Hogwarts Hybrid
by DapperCrapper
Summary: Takes place after season 1 finale. Multiple pairings but endgame is Hope/Harry. Rebekah was tasked with taking the Mikaelson Miracle Baby and to find a witch to shield her from those who hunt her. A certain stern but soft witch agrees and Rebekah and her niece manage to live quietly for the better part of ten years. But that all ends when a letter flutters to her front porch.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here, just my own brain. **

**a/n: Well, the idea for this came to me when I was marathoning Vampire Diaries as well as reading/watching the Harry Potter series. All of a sudden this idea came in my head. Well, I hope you enjoy it. Its been a long time since I actually wrote a fanfiction. **

_This is beyond enough! When will this... this...bullshit end!?_

Minerva McGonagall had been making her rounds through London, on the lookout for suspicious activity now that the school term had ended. The Sneakoscope that Moody had given her had guided her to a street where a man with his back to her had made a transaction with a scantily clad muggle prostitute. For a moment Minerva thought the Sneakoscope had gone off due to the fact that the man was married or something. She turned to continue on her way.

Then she heard the sounds of struggle, the woman's scream. She hurried back to find the girl writhing on the ground, sobbing with pain while the man had a wand pointed at her, maniacal laughter pouring from his lips.

Wasting no time, Minerva drew her wand and blasted a jinx at him, sending him flying. The girl's screams stopped and Minerva spared a glance at her, heart clenching. She couldn't have been more than seventeen.

That last second nearly cost her. The Death Eater had regained his feet and aimed his wand.

"Avad-"

SNAP!

Minerva's gasped, eyes widening to their full limits as a pair of slender hands roughly snapping her foe's neck stopped him from saying the spell that would have ended her. His body crumpled to the ground to reveal her savior.

"Wow. He was very rude..."

She was a slender blond woman with full lips and bright blue eyes that appeared to shine in the light of the muggle street lamps. However, Minerva wasn't fooled by her delicate appearance. As liberal as she was, she was no fool to believe that a human woman could snap a full grown man's neck with such ease.

"What do you want, vampire?"

The blond smiled and held her hands up to show she meant no harm. "Easy. I just want to talk." She then glanced at the shaking muggle girl who was eying the scene with frightened eyes. Bloody hell, Minerva would have to alert the Ministry after performing the Obliviate charm on her.

Quick as lightning the vampire was now in front of the girl, forcing her to look her in the eyes. Minerva could actually see her pupils expand and contract as she held the muggle's gaze for compulsion.

"Forget whatever just happened. You had a rough customer but he ran the moment you screamed. Now, go on about your way."

The girl nodded and stood, dumbly making her way down the street as she tugged at her tight leather skirt.

Once she was gone, the vampire rose to her feet and Minerva swallowed when she realized exactly who was. "Rebekah Mikaelson."

"Don't worry, I just want to talk." She then glanced at the dead Death Eater. "You're welcome for that by the way. Inner coven battles? Or a witch wannabee Jack the Ripper? Or was he just an ass?"

Minerva ignored the question to repeat one of her own. "What do you want?"

Rebekah only smiled. "All this neck snapping has me a bit peckish. I noticed a cute little diner a few blocks ahead. Can I treat you to dinner?"

* * *

"It is highly unusual for someone like you to approach someone like me."

"Not as unusual as you might think."

Minerva McGonagall merely eyed the beautiful and deceptively young woman who sat across from her in the dimly lit muggle restaurant. The girl before her had an order of fish and chips in front of her and a bottled water. Minerva had politely refused any food offered to her, nerves to on edge from the nights event to even think of partaking of food. And having a creature such as this requesting a meeting was even more unnerving. It was a miracle she was even able to transfigure herself into muggle clothing for the meeting.

The vampire had suggested that they speak in a public place to offer her the illusion of safety. The witch hardly felt safe, knowing that the vampire could easily compel everyone here, if she hadn't already, into attacking her. And she would be hard pressed to defend herself one for fear of exposure as well as harming innocent people who had nothing to do with this. Not to mention the fact that there where enough Death Eaters killing muggles as it was. But, she had agreed.

"And you searched me out because?" she asked as the vampire ate her food.

Rebekah smirked at that. "I recalled my brother speaking of a witch named Minerva McGonagall. Though, he failed to tell me how attractive you would be for a woman your age. You must have to beat off cougar hounds with a stick."

At that Minerva sniffed, unimpressed. "Don't waste that questionable Original charm on me, vampire. It won't work."

Now the girl smiled fully. "I take it you're more than use to dealing with my brothers? Judging by that tight frown, I'm betting it was Klaus. My brother does have a way of irritating people. Or was it Kol?"

The witch did not answer but simple arched her thin brows. "Rebekah, why did you wish to speak with me?"

"I need a witch's help."

"I figured as much. But I find it strange, if not suspicious that a vampire, an Original one at that, comes to me right at the height of the war."

Now the blond looked thoroughly confused. "What war? I trust you don't mean the mess in the Middle East."

"Hardly."

Rebekah leaned back in her chair. "Well, I can assure whatever it was I have no clue about what's going on. I've been in America for the better part of ninety years, most of that daggered and comatose and desiccating in a coffin thanks to my sadistic brother, so forgive me if I'm not up to date on your tug of war and sandbox battles."

At that Minerva's hackles rose, her shoulders squared and she looked almost ready to spring and attack like the cat she was known to transform into. "This 'sandbox battle' as you so flippantly call it, is the worst event Wizarding world. Many lives lost at the hands of a madman who could give even your brother a run for his money. Many of my friends died, children orphaned. So if you want my help, you won't speak of it in such a way to me again."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at the witch. "You're lucky I'm desperate, otherwise I would rip your tongue out of your face for talking to me like that."

Minerva's hand went to her wand and her eyes narrowed as she leaned forward. "You can try. You came to me for help. Show me more respect, or look elsewhere. Or go back to the box you were in because I believe all bratty children could do with a time out."

At that Rebekah bristled but took a deep breath through her nose. "Very well. I apologize. I'm just on edge about what's going on. Come with me." She reached into her purse, pulled out some muggle money, enough for the meal and a rather large tip for the fortunate waitress and headed for the door.

Curiosity outweighing her distrust, Minerva followed. Once outside, the vampire grabbed the witch's hand and within a flash, the two were standing at the door of a muggle house.

Rebekah unlocked the door and walked inside of the home. A couple was seated on the couch, the man was typing on one of those things... a laptop, while the woman tried to calm down a fussy baby. Upon the vampire's entrance, the woman looked up and smiled.

"Rebekah, you're back. Hope just woke up from her nap and I've been trying to get her back to sleep. A bunch of owls flew overhead and the hooting woke her."

Inwardly, Minerva huffed. Those idiot graduates. Yes, leaving school was a time for celebration but you would think that with the war, their mass invites to huge Firewhiskey fuel parties could wait.

Rebekah did not seem none the wiser and just took the fussy baby from the woman. Cold fear seized the witch at the sight of the vampire holding a helpless baby, but it then morphed to confusion at the genuine love and affection she showed the baby girl.

"It's such a pity I can't compel you the way I do these people... Maybe then you wouldn't give them such a hard time." The baby reached out a chubby fist and tried to tug on Rebekah's long gold locks. The vampire laughed then looked back up, seemingly remembering she had non-compelled company.

"Listen, Minerva... she's the reason I brought you here. She's being hunted. I need you to place a cloaking spell on her so she cannot be found."

Minerva cautiously reached out to touch the baby's downy chestnut hair. She couldn't have been no more than a couple of months old. The little girl looked up at her with bright blue eyes and gurgled contently. So many other baby's had been either been born or were on the way. The Prewett brothers younger sister Molly had just had another boy, Ronald, in February. Though how she managed with those rambunctious two year old twins was beyond her. Alice and Frank Longbottom were expecting a child in the next couple of months as were James and Lily Potter.

"Why me?" Minerva asked finally. The Originals had a reputation for strong arming witches and wizards to do their dirty work. Though that was mainly the Hybrid. Either way, they must have had at least a hundred witches to threaten or blackmail or bribe. Why come to her?

Rebekah made a fleeting motion towards the two muggles and they soundlessly retreated upstairs. Rebekah offered her a seat and sat down herself. "Because, as I said before, my brother spoke of you a couple of years ago. He told me he had met a witch named Minerva McGonagall many years back, and that you were a woman of honor. Anyone my brother holds to such high esteem, especially a witch, is the only one I can trust with this. The only one our family can trust with this."

The witch stiffened, memories of the Honorable Elijah coming back to the surface of her mind when she had long buried them. She hoped her face remained stoic but the pretty vampire's face melted to a knowing and sympathetic smile.

"I see..." she muttered, but was kind enough not to pry.

"Who is hunting this baby and why?" Minerva asked, not wanting to get into a sloppy discussion about her past.

The vampire stilled, as if debating on whether or not to tell her what was going on with this child. "That I cannot tell you. Not only for her safety," she added, "but for yours. The less you know, the better. But ask yourself this. Do you want an innocent baby to die just because I withheld some information?"

Minerva let out a sigh, her mind warring with her heart. On the one hand, she did not want to get involved in vampire business. Especially so soon after the war. However, she couldn't leave an innocent baby to die. And it seemed this vampire really did care for her. She even spotted a few bloodbags laying about the apartment, which told her she wasn't feeding from the muggles she had compelled to watch the child in her absence. However, she wasn't sure she trusted this one. She decided she would speak to the one she did trust out of the Originals, even if it would be extremely awkward.

"I would like to speak with Elijah, if you please. Forgive me, but-"

"You don't trust me." Rebekah gave a humorless smile but nodded. Fine. "She dug into her purse and pulled out a silver device that had a picture of lit up city and a clock on the display.

Sometimes the innovation of muggles amazed her.

After pressing a few buttons that weren't even buttons, there was a ringing sound. "Elijah, it's Rebekah. I found a witch but she wants to speak with you before she does anything. You know her. Minerva McGonagall..." She quickly filled him in on the recent happenings of the evening. There was silence, and then finally she handed the phone to her.

"Hello, Minerva." That voice brought back a flood of memories of sharp fangs buried in her flesh, torrid kisses and her broken heart when she left. "It's been a long time."

"Elijah," she was thankful her voice did not betray the inner torment she felt. All these years and she still carried a torch for him. How pathetic.

"I can assure you, this is no trick. We merely wish to keep the child safe from those who might seek to do her harm, so that she may grow up happy and healthy. I understand you have been having a rough time with the war. I do apologize for your loss. But let me tell you that now we are in the middle of our own war, and we wish to keep this child away from that. Many of the witches that we know are either dead or have betrayed us, now unless the years have warped you horribly, you are the only witch still living that I would trust enough with this task. Minerva," she held her breath hen he said her name, just like when she was a young Seventh Year, "I give you my word, you can trust me."

The funny thing was, she knew she could trust him. However, her mind would not let her readily agree to this. "Give me one day to decide."

She heard that sharp intake of air through his nose which told her he did not like her decision but would honor it. Once her mind was made up there was no changing it. "Very well."

She wasted no time with goodbye and handed the phone back to the blond. Rebekah looked ready to hiss and scream but wisely held her tongue. Minerva headed to the window, pausing only t look back at her. "I will let you know within a day of my decision." With that she exited the home and disapparated on the spot

She needed to speak with Dumbledore.

Quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Chapter 2**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own brain. Harry Potter and The Originals belong to their respective owners. I am making no money from this work of fanfiction.**

**A/N: Well, I'm glad I have a few people who are interested in this story. I will continue to update it as quickly as possible but with a research paper coming up in a few weeks, expect the updates to taper down soon. That being said regardless if you like it, hate it or whatnot, I ask that you please review. They are my bread and butter. **

"Have you heard? The veil has begun to collapse!"

Minerva paused as she made her way through the castle, the ghosts and paintings were in an uproar. Granted, since the war had begun they were always chattering, more than usual. However, this was different. And what she heard Nearly-Headless Nick tell one of the other spirits made her halt in her tracks and spin around.

"What?"

The ghost turned to her, a shocked look on his usually cheerful, translucent face. "The Other Side, where supernatural beings go when they die, its falling."

Moving much more quickly, Minerva soon found herself in Dumbledore's office. He had already been made aware by the other portraits and ghosts of the Other Side collapsing. Apparently something had happened in a small town in the United States that caused it. However, the ghosts of Hogwarts were perfectly protected and were in no danger of being sucked into oblivion due to the magic of the school's grounds. However if they wanted to find peace, then they were more than welcome but most opted not to. They rather enjoyed afterlife on the grounds of school, frightening the first years. (Though she secretly hoped Moaning Myrtle would crossover. Her wailing was irritating.) Either way, the matter was being investigated by the Ministry and they were told not to worry on it further.

Moving on from that matter, Minerva then explained to Dumbledore why she had not returned to the castle after making her rounds. Everything from the Death Eater's attack on a muggle prostitute, the awkward dinner with the Original Sister to the request made of her was explained. While she spoke, she didn't fail to notice the Headmaster's brows rising further and further. This was certainly a new one for the books.

"Minerva," Dumbledore began after clearing his throat, "It seems Elijah held a great deal of respect for you. How did you come to know him?"

When the witch didn't answer but a faint blush rose to her cheeks, Dumbledore nodded. "Ahh, right then. No matter," he said quickly, probably so he would not make this meeting awkward. "So. About the child. What do you plan to do?"

Now Minerva sighed. "I honestly don't know, Professor. One the one hand, I'm reluctant to help vampires with anything, but on the other... she's only a baby. Who on Earth would be hunting her? I doubt You-Know-Who would bother with a baby."

Dumbledore hummed quietly at this, his mind working very fast.

"While I doubt the Dark Lord would not hesitate to kill a small baby, I doubt it is he who is after her. Rebekah Mikaelson did not tell anything about the nature of this child?"

"No," Minerva shook her head, "she claimed that the less I know the better. It's not like vampires can have children, so I doubt that's it. Maybe they owe a favor to someone and protecting the child is their way of cashing in. While brutal, the Originals are honorable in their own way." Now her head dropped into her hands. "What do you think I should do?"

Now the headmaster stood and came around to place his hands on her shoulders. "No child should be hunted like an animal. I think you should cloak the child. Because I know you, Minerva. If you did not, your conscious would eat away at you. You're a lot softer than you like to let on."

Now the witch laughed, knowing he was right. "But the idea of leaving her with a vampire, an Original..."

"Keep watch, in secret for half a day. See if anything slips." He then moved back to his seat while she rose to leave. "Oh, and try to do more animal like things. Its usually your rigid stance that gives you away."

She turned to gather everything she knew on cloaking spells. "Right, Albus..." she then stopped, remembering something. "Oh, how did your interview go? You were interviewing an applicant for the Divination position tonight, were you not?"

"It was..." Dumbledore inclined his head "interesting to say the least. She starts the job on the start of term."

Minerva said nothing at that, only pursing her lips as they parted ways. _Divination... really?_

T.T.T

Clothed in muggle clothing Minerva made her way to the diner where she had met the Original last night. However, she did not go inside. Instead, she went behind the building into an alley. Double checking to make sure she was truly alone aside for the random rat or cat, she shifted into a tabby cat and made her way through the city towards the apartment where Rebekah was stationed.

Settling on a balcony outside, she peered through the window, ears perked. She could make out various conversations, the sound of music. Food could be smelled cooking but she concentrated on distinct smell, a smell she had come to know well during the war.

Blood.

Soon, she could smell the salty, metallic scent along with expensive perfume and the scent that came with new shoes. This was the right place.

She saw the two muggles from last night. The woman was at the stove while the man was reading a book. In the kitchen there was a bassinette and the baby, clad in a onsie and happily blowing raspberries. The sound of expensive heels clicking resounded through the home and Rebekah entered the room, donor bag of blood in hand, sipping it the way a child would a drink at the school. Then the woman turned to her with a bottle she had been heating

"Rebekah, here's her bottle."

"Thank you," the vampire took the bottle and gathered the baby into her arms. "Time for breakfast." She placed the bottle to the gurgling baby's lips and the child happily began suckling, reaching her chubby arms up to hold the bottle.

"Oh, look at you! You're such a big girl!" Rebekah cheered and then she sighed wistfully. "I wish your mother could see you now. As well as your father." She then let out a humorless snort. "It seems like just yesterday I hated his guts, but right now... I just wish he could be here to see you. You're getting so big. I can't believe its been three months since he gave me to you to protect."

The human woman made a bottle of water for the baby and handed it to Rebekah. "Do you think that witch is going to do the spell for her?" she asked.

Rebekah sighed and held the new bottle to the child's lips. "I don't know. I hope so... Elijah seems to trust her. And she didn't seem like one of those crazy French Quarter bitches we left back in the states... I don't think she'll leave a child to suffer. She seemed pretty soft hearted no matter how much she tried to hide it..." she gave the woman a sad smile "I can relate." Her head hung a little bit then she lifted it with a smile. "I still can't believe that she and brother had a thing. Honestly, she's one of the ones I would approve of for him. But, its good that he left her. Klaus would've royally fucked it up for him because that's just who he is."

Outside, the cat sniffed. She was the one who left!

The baby turned her head away, signaling she did not want anymore water. Rebekah picked her up and began to pat her lightly on the back to burp her-

"Um, you're going to want to use a towel-" the human started.

But, baby vomit erupted from Hope and onto Rebekah's shoulder and expensive top before she could even hope to use her vampire speed.

"Bloody hell! Really?" Rebekah handed the child to the woman as she went to clean up in the sink. The man got up to help her. "Little troll, I bet you got that from your mother."

The baby gurgled then laughed happily.

"What happened in New Orleans anyway?" the man asked as he sponged the vomit off.

"Crazy witches, family drama... the usual. The parents had to give away their baby to keep her safe. First selfless thing I've seen him do in ages. However, I see no harm in telling you this because once a witch does this spell, I'll erase your memories." She sniffed her shoulder and sighed in disgust. "Still smells like baby puke. I'm going to change."

As the vampire left the room, Minerva jumped from the balcony and headed to the back alley behind the restaurant; she transfigured back into her human form. She then made her way to a small bench and sat down.

While the information was still vague, she could tell that the vampire really did have the baby's best interest at heart. To protect her from the witches of the French Quarter in the United States. Her own rage flared at the thought of them harming a baby, for whatever the reason.

_Those vile bitches. _

Standing up from the bench, she headed out of muggle sight and apparated back to Order Headquarters. And there she found James and heavily pregnant Lily Potter in an argument while an exasperated Remus Lupin and Sirius Black watched.

"They're killing muggles and she's my sister. She also has a baby on the way. She needs to have some sort of protection!"

"Have you forgot the part where she's something of a cow..."

Lily huffed at her husband, green eyes flashing. "All I want to do is send her this in the muggle post! Stop being so overprotective..."

"I'll take it to her," Sirius said with a smirk.

"You just want to scare her with that motorcycle, Sirius," Lily said disapprovingly. "She's pregnant too. Due any day, actually."

"Still a miracle he got her pregnant..." Sirius cracked. "I would've thought the porker would have to lift his rolls to even find his-"

"Sirius!" Both Lily and Minerva scolded and the handsome man let out a bark-like laugh.

"I'll take the package," said Minerva, giving Sirius a scathing look that he countered with a charming smile.

Lily handed her a lightweight box that was already addressed to Petunia Dursley. As she left to head to the muggle post office she heard them resume conversation.

"What did you give her?" Remus asked curiously.

"Something better than that god-awful vase she sent me for Christmas..." Lily muttered.

"Oh, so dragon dung, then?"

"Shut up, James."

After leaving the post office she found her mind going back to the argument between Lily and James. Both mentioning protection of babies.

Mind made up, she went to retrieve her wand as well as other ingredients needed for the spell.

T.T.T.T

Inside the small apartment, Rebekah fidgeted in her seat, glancing at the clock. Twenty-four hours were almost up and she had yet to hear from that McGonagall witch. She glanced at the bassinet where her niece slept peacefully and bit her lip, trying to ease the knot of tension in her stomach.

There was a light knock at the door and Rebekah vamp sped to the door, trying to squelch the burst of hope that rose in her stomach. It could have been anyone...

She peered through the peephole and bit the insides of her cheeks as she opened the door for the witch.

"Hello, Rebekah," she greeted stiffly.

"Minerva," Rebekah nodded. "May I offer you a drink?"

"No, thank you." She paused and the vampire was about to burst with anxiety. Was she going to do it or not?

Minerva entered the home and took a seat on the sofa. "Could you kindly dim the lights please? The only lights needed for the spell are the candles I am going to place around the room."

At first the words didn't register in Rebekah's mind so she stood there dumbly. But once they did, she actually squealed like the teenage girl she once was and rushed to the witch, hugging her tightly and shocking her.

"I'm usually not so touchy-feely but thank you!"

"I won't be able to do anything if you keep crushing my ribs..." Minerva choked out.

"Oh!" Rebekah quickly let her go. "Sorry about that."

Minerva just smoothed her clothes while Rebekah shut off the lights and lighting a couple of candles that she already owned. She then turned to watch as Minerva opened a small drawstring purse that didn't look like it held much. However when she dug into the bag and her arm seemingly disappeared but then came back up with various odds and ends for the spell, enough that could fill up a tote bag, Rebekah's mouth dropped open.

"Can I get one of those?"

"No."

Rebekah pouted lightly but shrugged it off.

"However, I do have a condition for the spell."

"What's that?" Rebekah asked, suddenly wary.

"First of all. Release the muggles from your compulsion. Wipe their minds clean if you must, but please let them go."

"I was going to do that anyway. Anything else?"

"While I know it is in your nature to feed from blood, at least heal your victims afterward. No mindless kills. Do that and consider the spell void. And considering you're short on witches you actually trust, don't try to test me on this."

Rebekah fumed at being commanded by this woman and had to squish down the urge to snap her wrinkly neck. However, after remembering she had Hope to consider, she gave a nod. Snatch, bite, erase and heal. It was troublesome but doable.

"Fine. Anything else?" she asked testily.

"Just a suggestion, really. If you truly want to protect her. You might want to try laying low. And by that I mean, live unassumingly. Like an apartment such as this or a modest house. What seems to attract people to you Originals is your extravagance. I doubt anyone would expect you to live like a commoner if one were to come looking for you."

Rebekah mulled that over in her mind. It made sense. While it was annoying, she could do with a small home.

"Anything else?"

"No, that is all."

"I have a question for you."

Minerva arched her brows. "Yes?"

"What made you do it?"

She offered a smile. "I work with children all the time. I could not imagine any one of them in danger. If one of their parents came to me wanting this spell, I'd do it in a heartbeat. No child should have to grow up with threats looming over their innocent heads."

Her answer satisfied the vampire and she sat quietly as the woman performed the spell. She pulled out a wand, as well a potion bottle and asked Rebekah to bring the baby to her. There was salt, various herbs that offered protection and lots of Latin words. Soon, what looked like a warm golden glow settled over Hope's form and fused into her. The baby did not even wake up.

Sighing, Minerva stood and gathered her things back into the miraculous bag. "It's done. No one will be able to find her through the use of magic. Now, this spell is linked to the fact that she is a child, once something happens that signifies maturity, puberty for example, the spell will be broken. I can perform another one when the time comes."

Rebekah nodded, wondering how on Earth she would find the witch once Hope needed her first bra.

"Thank you." When Minerva only nodded and headed for the door, she grabbed her hand and hugged her again, this time gently. "I mean it. Thank you. If there comes a time and you need anything from me, please do not hesitate to ask. A shopping buddy, someone killed., look me up."

Minerva pulled awkwardly patted the vampire's back then pulled away and bent down to gently touch the sleeping baby's head. "Goodbye Hope. You be a good girl. I will see you in about ten years.

She then pulled back left the apartment. Once she was gone, Rebekah quickly grabbed her phone to text her brothers with the first bit of good news they had in months.

Meanwhile, Rebekah was unaware that the woman transfigured into a tabby cat had taken a detour onto a residential street called Wisteria Walk.

**Okay, let me explain Rebekah's over enthusiasm. I would figure a nice amount of witches would be wary to help her with this considering how witches view vampires. Not to mention the fact that this is about her niece and not some random whim of hers. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Originals or Harry Potter. The both belong to respective owners.**

**A/N: Thanks so much for the support that I am receiving for this story. I am so glad that people are enjoying it! Even if its just a few, I am very thankful to be receiving readers at all. **

_~*Ten Years Later*~_

"Hope! Wake up, we're going shopping!"

A blue comforter flopped to the carpeted floor to reveal sleep tousled mane of chestnut hair. A pale, groggy little girl sat up and rolled her vivid blue eyes at the accented voice from outside of her door. "Coming Auntie Bex!"

Hope Mitchell slid her feet to the carpet and toed on her bunny slippers. She had the strangest dream. There were owls dropping letters and something about a big snake. However, she was unable to recall the dream. She shrugged it off and stood to get breakfast. Yawning and scratching the entire way, she opened the door and headed to the dining room. She could feel her aunt rolling her eyes at her less than lady like behavior but could hardly care less.

"Must you, Hope?" Aunt Bex asked in exasperation.

Hope shrugged and sat down at the table in front of the bowl of cereal and bacon that was laid out in front of her. It seemed like it was time for their start of summer shop-a-thon that her aunt loved so much. Hope liked it as well, but she preferred movies and video games to all of the clothes her aunt liked to get her. Most of the clothes were so she would not have to do back to school shopping at the end of the summer when everyone was crowding the mall. However, the only thing that was different was that this year it would be school in England. According to Aunt Bex, they had visited England when Hope was a baby but had immediately moved to Chicago, Illinois.

But, the day she turned eleven her aunt made preparations to head for England. Hope had not been too happy about the move. She was used to Chicago, though she could do without the crazy cold winters. When Hope had asked why, her aunt said it was because she had business to do in the country. So, for the last few months after her school year in the States had ended she lived in England in a small house with her aunt.

"So, I had the weirdest dream," Hope started while her aunt poured herself a glass of juice.

"Oh really?"

"It was a bunch of owls and letters and a big snake... That's all I remember."

Rebekah's brow furrowed and she sat down across from her at the small table. "Hmm, well, you were watching the animal channel last night... As for the letters... I have no idea what that means."

Hope shrugged as she finished the last of her cereal then went to clean up and get dressed. While she was rummaging around in her room, Rebekah cleared away the table. While she loaded the dishwasher, she cast a nervous glance back at the girl's room. They had went back to Chicago after Minerva performed the spell, it held fond memories for her and was rather far from New Orleans. Hope had seemed to like it, they lived in a small apartment in a nice neighborhood but it was not overly extravagant. She had taken the witch's advice to heart and toned down the luxury so they would not be hunted. The woman was right, luxury was their calling card. However, the moment she noticed Hope start to bud breasts as well as complain about the first sprouting of leg hair the Original hopped them both on a plane back to England. She had no clue how she was going to find Minerva McGonagall but she would find her.

Also, curiously, her niece hadn't once needed to feed on blood. Rebekah knew Hope would not need to feed on flesh, as a hybrid she did not have to change into her wolf form, plus she had never killed anyone so the curse was not activated. However, even though she was part vampire she never had to drink. Rebekah figured it was due to her being part witch that suppressed her vampire side. Speaking of her witch side, she had the feeling that soon she would need to find someone to teach her witchcraft if her powers started manifesting. Maybe Minerva would? She said she worked with children.

But that also meant telling the girl the truth about her lineage. Something Rebekah had been putting off.

"Ready, Aunt Bex!"

Rebekah turned to see the child dressed in a pale blue top with jeans, her hair that she inherited from Hayley pulled up in a high ponytail. She was a very pretty girl her mother's hair, Klaus's large blue eyes and wide mouth. It was a bit awkward on her long limbed, gawky frame but Rebekah knew within a few years Hope would be a complete heart breaker.

"Okay, let's go."

* * *

An hour into their shopping had passed when Hope declared she was hungry. Rebekah was about to tell her to wait but paused when their car passed a familiar had been here before... She had snapped a man's neck to save a certain witch here...

It was the corner where she had first met Minerva.

Considering she did not believe in coincidence she turned to park in the diner parking lot, the same place where she and the witch shared an awkward dinner. Once inside, Hope quickly went to order a fish sandwich with no onions while Rebekah had nothing. Hope dived into her meal as Rebekah glanced around, hoping to find a familiar stern-faced woman. She did not. The only old woman that was in the diner was a rather strange one with a broken leg, sitting in a wheelchair. And dear god, she reeked of kitty litter. Sometime vampire senses were a burden. Being downwind from a kooky cat lady was definitely one for the minus column.

"Eww!"

Hope's sudden outburst turned Rebekah's attention back to the small girl. "I asked for no onions!" Her young face twisted into a mask of sheer irritation. She got up to complain to the waitress. "Excuse me? I asked for _no onions_," Hope said, trying her best not to snap.

The waitress apologized and took the sandwich, hurrying back to the kitchens. Hope huffed and glared after, wanting to rage at the kitchen staff's stupidity.

A shrill scream then came from the back and the waitress ran out while one of the cooks emerged, spraying a fire extinguisher. Hope and Rebekah leaped from their seats and backed toward the door. The old woman in the wheelchair scooted backward as well as smoke wafted from the kitchen. After a moment, the cook sighed in relief. "It's all right everyone. Fire's under control."

"What happened?" the elderly woman asked the shaken waitress.

"I don't know... All I know is when I went to the back to get a remake for a customer, the bin where we keep the onions was on fire."

Rebekah's head snapped up at that. Did Hope...?

"Come on, we've got more shopping to do." The vampire pulled the girl out of the restaurant.

"But, my food!" Hope complained as her aunt tugged her to the car.

Neither of them noticed the way the old woman kept her eyes on them.

* * *

Two hours and many shopping bags later, the two females were loading their purchases into the car. Hope was now lamenting that she still hadn't had anything to eat.

"All right... we'll try again. Maybe Italian..." Rebekah offered, knowing the girl loved lasagna. Though her mind was still on the incident that occurred in the other restaurant. Unless she was mistaken, Rebekah would need to find the witch Minerva sooner than she thought. But, how was she going to find her?

A shrill scream sounded, hitting Rebekah's ears long before it hit Hope's. Then there was another, along with startled gasps.

Instantly on guard, Rebekah moved to stand protectively in front of the girl. "What is it?" Hope asked, hearing people screaming finally.

"I don't know," Rebekah concentrated and tried to hear what was the cause of the commotion, not wanting to leave Hope to go investigate. There was screaming, sirens and a faint shuffling sound that got closer by the minute. All of that was blocked out when an ear-splitting shriek sounded behind her.

"Auntie! A snake!" Hope shrieked and dove into the car, slamming the door.

Rebekah turned and jumped when a huge boa constrictor slithered past her, flicking its forked tongue at her. Rebekah wasn't frightened. What could the animal do to her anyway? There was a roar of engines and she soon saw the animal control cars zipping down the street to get the reptile. Hope saw them as well and her eyes widened. "Are they gonna kill it?" she asked from inside the car, glancing back and forth between the snake and her aunt. The girl had a soft spot for all sorts of animals.

"Probably..." Rebekah answered, wondering where the serpent had come from. Hope's mouth dropped in a gasp.

"They don't need to kill it!

The very moment she said that, a manhole cover popped off of the street like a geyser. Both females jumped and a nice amount of people scattered. The top flew and landed with a thud, crashing through the windshield of a nearby car. The alarm blared and there was more panic in the streets. The snake wasted no time going to find sanctuary in the sewers right as the animal control cars skidded to a stop. Rebekah eyed her niece and felt her stomach sink to her expensive boots.

"Hope, time to go." Rebekah declared as she got into the car drove off toward their home.

During the car ride, Hope was eagerly looking out the rear window. "Do you think its safe in the sewers?"

Rebekah glanced at the girl from the rear view mirror. Dealing with witches for so long, she knew it was no coincidence that a manhole cover would just blow off the moment Hope was worried about the animal, providing the perfect escape for it. She would have to alert her family about the new developments. As well as finally tell the girl about her true lineage.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a car cut her off. Temper and nerves getting the better of her, she rolled down her window and stuck her head out. "NICE JOB, ASSHOLE!" she yelled to the driver who looked like a fat ball with a mustache. She could make out a thin woman and a bunch of kids in the car as well. Her hearing picked up the conversation of the kids.

"Daddy, it nearly bit off my leg!"

"It tried to squeeze me to death! And Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"

At that point the car sped forward and Rebekah could no longer hear them. It seemed like the kids were all just making up tall tales. However, she turned her attention back to Hope.

"I'm quite certain its fine, dear," she said answering her niece's question. "But, once we're home and you've had dinner, we're going to have to have a talk."

Things were sure to get interesting once they got home.

* * *

It was nearing the end of term at Hogwarts and everyone was gathered in the Great Hall for dinner. At the table where the teachers sat, Minerva had a strange feeling that there was something she needed to do.

It was then that a small spotted owl flew into the great hall and landed in front of her on the table. The owl stuck its leg out and Minerva unwrapped the letter from its foot.

_Dear Professor McGonagall_

_Rebekah Mikaelson has returned and the girl, the child the Originals asked you to protect, is with her. I believe she is a witch. The girl displayed bits of accidental magic and this took place at the diner you first met Rebekah. I believe she is looking for you to redo the spell on the girl. Also, it seems Harry Potter is really coming into his powers. He made the glass to a snake's cage disappear at the local zoo. As for the girl, perhaps invite her to the school. It would be beneficial to her._

_Arabella Figg._

_P.S The girl has a bit of a temper._

Minerva's mouth fell open and she quickly shut it. "Professor Dumbledore," she turned to the bearded man next to her. He regarded her with a kind smile.

"Yes, Minerva?"

"The girl, Hope, she's returned and-"

"Say no more. Go on. But do leave a note stating your classes will be canceled for the rest of the day."

She excused herself from the table, knowing she did not have a moment to lose. She made a quick stop to her classroom and posted a note that informed the students that the rest of the classes they had with her today would be canceled. After setting everything in order, she went about locating the girl.

* * *

When Rebekah and Hope finally made it back to their small home, the girl bounded inside to turn on the TV while Rebekah gathered the mail. The usual junk mail, the bills, a letter for Hope from the library (that dratted girl more than likely forgot to return the Blu-rays she was so fond of borrowing) and another letter that was addressed to the girl using the same false surname that had been made up to keep the New Orleans witches off of her scent. Was she getting more subscription offers to tween magazines?

"Hope, mail..." she handed the two letters to her. "One's from the library... What'd you forget to return this time?"

"A Bug's Life, Divergent and Ice Age." The girl tossed the letter from the library aside and then opened the other letter. "I wonder if its from one of my friends back in Chicago?"

"Like any of those goons would bother writing a letter..." Rebekah muttered under her breath as she went to start dinner.

Hope sat down and opened her letter, her eyes getting big as she read it. "Uh... What's a Hogwarts?"

Rebekah blinked, never hearing that name before. "What?"

"It's a letter saying I was accepted into a school for witchcraft and wizardary and that I have to send an owl to let them know if I want to go to the school..."

"Have you been signing up for those online games again?" Rebekah asked as she chopped up some carrots for the stew.

"Just a few but I never heard of this one," Hope said absently. "And it even has a headmaster. What kind of name is Albus Dumbledore?"

Rebekah scoffed at that as Hope continued.

And its signed by Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall..."

The knife slipped from Rebekah's hands and she vamp-sped to the girl, swiping the note out of her hands. Hope didn't notice that she was just in the kitchen and now in the living room, for she had been too engrossed in the letter.

"Aunt Bex!" she cried, irritated at having her letter swiped from her.

"Hope, go to your room." When the girl just sat dumbly, Rebekah narrowed her eyes. "Now!"

Hope's eyes widened and then narrowed and for a moment she looked frighteningly like Klaus. She breathed quickly through her nose and stomped off to her room, slamming the door. Rebekah ignored her tirade and went about reading the letter.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

_What the Hell is this?!_

She read on. It listed a headmaster of the school with the most ridiculous name she had ever heard. Dumbledore? Really. It addressed Hope formally as Miss Mitchell and invited her to the school and that the term started the first of September and that they were awaiting her owl and would not accept it after July had ended.

It had indeed been signed by Minerva McGonagall.

Panic seized her throat and heart and she paced through the living room. What was going on? Was this even a real school!? What was Minerva playing at?

A knock at the door stopped her frantic pacing and she wrenched open the door, figuring it was one of the neighbors or the shoes she had ordered online.

It was Minerva McGonagall.

**Hey, guys. Sorry for the short chapter. Research paper coming up and I wanted to at least get a chapter out. For everyone wondering what I have Hope look like, just Google/imagine Michelle Trachtenburg from when she stared in Harriet the Spy and Pete and Pete as a girl. As she ages keep the image from Buffy the Vampire Slayer all the way to Gossip Girl. I find her the perfect mix of Klaus and Hayley. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor do I own The Originals. They both belong to their respective copyright holders. I am not receiving monetary compensation for this work of fanfiction.**

**A/N: Well, my heart just basically swelled when I saw the increase in followers as well as favorites! I am so glad people are taking an interest!**

Whatever Minerva expected when she appeared on the doorstep of Rebekah Mikaelson it was not to be roughly yanked into the home. The door slammed and the witch found herself slammed into it, dainty but deadly fingers around her neck and Rebekah's eyes reddening, black veins bulging around them. The vampire hissed menacingly, fangs glistening.

"What the Hell are you playing at?!" The undead woman snarled.

Minerva tried to pull the woman's hand from her neck, but her grip was too strong. However she managed to get a hold of her wand and croak out. "Stupefy!"

There was a blast of red light Rebekah flew backwards into the couch. She rose, looking particularly disoriented but still conscious. She got to her feet, eyes clearing and she glared hard at the witch who had her wand pointed at her.

Then her world flipped.

Rebekah gasped when she was yanked and held upside down by one foot by some invisible hand. She fumed angrily at the woman as she flailed pointlessly. "Put me down!"

"After you attacked me? What type of fool do you take me for?"

"What the Hell are you playing at? Sending her this?!" The vampire demanded, eyes flicking to the parchment that had fallen on the floor during all of the excitement.

Minerva flicked her eyes back and forth between the airborne vampire and the fallen letter. Keeping her wand pointed at her, she stooped to retrieve it. She saw it was the letter she had sent to Hope, accepting her into Hogwarts.

"Surely you knew Hope was a witch?"

Rebekah huffed. "Of course, I knew! Her grandmother was one! How did you know?"

Minerva now saw that it was just paranoia and fear clouding the vampire's mind. She lowered her down gently to the floor. "Let's discuss this like adults. You keep the fangs away and I won't stun and levitate you"

Rebekah nodded but continued to glare at her. "Fine."

"Yes, I know she is a witch," Minerva said calmly. "Considering she set a bin of onions on fire just because a poor waitress bumbled her sandwich."

"You were there? I did not see you."

"The girl doesn't know she's a witch, does she?" Minerva asked.

Rebekah stormed into the kitchen and pulled a bottle of bourbon out of the cupboard. She poured herself a small glass and downed it all in one gulp. "Of course not. Her parents wanted her to be happy when they gave her to me. She doesn't even know what I am. I never told her. I wanted to wait until she was old enough... Which I guess is now since she's setting bloody onions on fire..." she poured another glass then looked inquiringly at Minerva, silently offering her a drink.

"Oh, no thank you" she said, disapproval in her voice at the fact the other woman was drinking the hard muggle stuff so early in the day. But then, considering she was a vampire, this was probably early for her. "How did you manage to keep what you are from her?" Minerva asked, curious.

"I mostly feed when she's at school. Her parents wanted her to have a normal life, so I sent her to human school. While I made sure to keep an eye on her, I used a small window of time to feed, and erase and heal the victims afterwards."

"So, you've not killed anyone?

Now Rebekah took another swig of her drink. "There was a bit of a temper-tantrum in New York City for New Years Eve, but considering the man was brutally raping a stripper behind her club, I had no problem killing him before healing the woman and making her forget the attack" she narrowed her eyes. "You said innocent people were off the list. That man wasn't innocent."

Minerva bristled but had nothing to say. If that was the only murder Rebekah committed, she was honestly fine with it. "I see." _It seems killing rapists is something she and Elijah have in common..._

Minerva kept that thought to herself.

"But, I also feed from donor bags of blood. I keep a cooler in my room, locked with a combination lock when I get peckish when Hope's home. I hate the thought of leaving her at night."

Now Rebekah pulled out a bottle of apple juice and poured a glass for Minerva and offered it to her since she refused alcohol. "Tell me about this school, and I'll let you know if I'm all right with Hope going. I trust you well enough, but I need more information."

Minerva explained to her about Hogwarts, everything Hope would learn and the opportunities afforded to her. Rebekah listened intently, but stopped to ask one question.

"Hang on, I've been around for over a thousand years. Why have I never heard about it?"

"Because we kept it secret from muggles... non-magical people. And you Originals seemed content with living in Muggle society. Also, you know how witches and wizards have felt about vampires."

Rebekah gave a consenting half shrug then had to ask. "Did Elijah know about the school?"

Minerva gave a slight laugh with no humor.

"No, he did not."

"Hmm."

"I can assure you, Rebekah. Hope will be greatly protected at the school. If I thought for a moment that she would not be, I would not even bother offering her an invitation. Now, she might be subjected to some pranks by students..." Minerva sighed as a certain set of redheaded twin boys came to mind. "But, she would be safe and able to learn magic under renowned teachers."

"What do you teach?"

"Transfiguration."

"Oh, that's the last thing I need. I tell her she can't go out, and she'll turn my shoes into bunnies or something!"

Now Minerva smiled. "Underage witches and wizards aren't allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts. That won't be until she's seventeen."

"Small comforts..."

There was a silence, then Rebekah grabbed the letter again to see the book list for Hope. "An owl, a toad or a cat?"

Minerva could tell that Rebekah was considering it. Otherwise she would have just asked her to perform the cloaking spell for Hope then made her leave. "An owl is used to deliver the mail in our world. They're very intelligent creatures. Toads, apparently, have gone out of fashion or so I hear. A cat would be good company."

Rebekah still looked over the list of things. Minerva she could tell she was warring with letting her attend the school and keeping her here where she would be able to watch her.

After what seemed like a long time, Rebekah let out a sigh. "Hope! Come in here."

No one came. Rebekah sighed and got up. "I swear, she's as deaf as a... never should've gotten her that bloody iPod."

What an iPod was, Minerva had no clue. A moment later Rebekah returned with a small girl. Her curly chestnut hair hung in a ponytail and her wide blue eyes narrowed in confusion at the sight of Minerva. The witch stood and gave a smile to her.

"Hello Hope. My name is Professor McGonagall."

The girl's eyes widened farther. "You sent me that letter!" She looked back at Rebekah then back to Minerva. "That school's real?!" Now she rounded on Rebekah. "Why am I getting invited to a witch school?"

Rebekah sighed and met Minerva's eyes over the top of Hope's head, then she dropped down to Hope's level. "Hope... There things I need to tell you." She lead the now nervous girl to the couch and sat her down. Rebekah then sat on the coffee table in front of her. "Hope... you're a witch."

Minerva stood back to see how the girl would take the news.

At first she stared at her aunt dumbly, like she hadn't heard her. Then she stood up and stalked into the kitchen. "I'm not a witch! How can I be a witch?!"

Rebekah sighed again. "Your grandmother was one."

Now Hope looked shocked. "My grandma? You never told me I had a grandma!"

"She was not someone you would've wanted to know," Rebekah explained as she seemed close to losing her cool.

"Why?!"

"She was not a nice person. Knowing her would have done you more harm than good. She was bonkers. She was the reason your parents sent you to me. But your mother and father love you."

"How do you know that?!" Hope demanded. It seemed the girl was not taking this news well. Arabella was right when she said the girl had a temper.

Rebekah sighed again then stood up turning to Minerva finally. "I'm sorry... But, right now you need to leave."

Minerva nodded, seeing that this was a tender subject. "I'll come back tomorrow morning."

Minerva left without another word. While she felt rude for not saying a proper goodbye to Hope, she felt that it was far more important for Hope to receive proper explanations and knew that there was information that Rebekah did not want her hearing. Part of her was tempted to hear what she would tell her but out of the grudging respect she held for the Original, she left without eavesdropping.

* * *

"Listen Hope, I'm going to tell you things. About your parents... and about myself."

Hope listened as her aunt told her that she was indeed a vampire. When Hope stood up and said she did not believe her, Rebekah flashed her fangs as proof. Hope had scuttled backwards, eyes wide with fright. The vampire recoiled as if slapped.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" Rebekah cried, tears in her eyes. "I'd never hurt you!"

Hope was breathing rather hard, her face drained of color. "Have you killed anybody?"

When Rebekah said nothing but only hung her head, Hope got up and ran into her room, slamming the door. Rebekah tore after her. "Hope!" She knocked on the door. "Hope! You know I can break down this door in an instant!"

"Go away!"

"Hope!"

"Why'd you lie to me?!"

"I didn't lie to you! I just didn't want to tell you until you were older! Now stop acting like a bloody brat and talk to me properly!"

There was a long silence but finally Hope opened the door. Rebekah went into the room and sat on Hope's bed. The girl sat down next to her grudgingly. "How am I witch then? You said my grandmother was a witch..."

"She was, and a powerful one. Its hereditary."

"Are my parents witches?"

"No."

"They're vampires?"

"Your father is part vampire, part werewolf. So is your mother, but she was a full werewolf when she had you."

"What am I?" Hope asked, voice hitching with fear and unshed tears.

Now Rebekah sighed."I'm... quite certain you're a mix off all of them. Your mother was gravely injured when she was pregnant with you and you managed to heal her. Vampire blood can heal any injury. However you're clearly a witch, otherwise you wouldn't have set those onions on fire when that silly waitress messed up your sandwich."

Hope's eyes were as round as dinner plates. "I did what?"

Rebekah just smiled though it didn't reach her eyes. "And as for your wolf side... I don't think its activated yet, neither is most of your vampire side. You don't have to drink blood. I believe your witch side dilutes it."

Hope was quiet, mulling over what she was being told. Then she thought about the letter that came and the woman that was here earlier. "That lady who was here? She's a witch?"

"Yes. She... cast a spell on you when you were a baby. Its due to wear off soon if it hasn't already..."

Now Hope bolted to her feet. "Why'd she cast a spell on me?!"

Rebekah, anticipating this reacting, pulled the girl back to sit. "Because some very dangerous people were after you. The spell was for your protection so they couldn't find you. And she needs to do the spell again."

"Who was after me?!"

Rebekah put her hands on the girl's shoulders, something Hope knew was a bad news warning.

"Your grandmother..."

Hope let out a disbelieving squeak but Rebekah continued to explain. "She had... people come after you. Only because she hated us, your father, uncles and myself. She thought we were abominations of nature and we needed to die. So by extension, so did you. So, when you were born, your parents gave you up to me. Your father and I have had many differences but he said there was no one he trusted more to watch over you while he, your mother and your uncle worked to make your birth city safe for you again."

She then handed the girl an envelope. "It's from your mother. She wrote this while she was still carrying you and asked me to give it to you when you were old enough to understand."

Hope opened the letter and Rebekah left her alone to read it, not seeing the tears that fell down the little girl's cheeks.

It was many hours later, the sun had already set. Moonlight shone through Hope's bedroom window, illuminating her figure. She had not moved from her spot on her bed since Rebekah left her.

Hope had read and reread the letter that Rebekah had given her. Apparently it was from her mother. It was full of proclamations of love, how her mother never knew her own parents and she made sure that Hope was surrounded by people who loved her.

And now there was a school, being taught by a witch who cast a spell on her when she was a baby. They wanted her to go to it so she could learn how to be a witch. And she was a werewolf and a vampire.

Her life was way weirder than any video game.

She glanced at the Sailor Moon poster that hung over her bed. Now she really understood how Usagi felt the moment Luna the cat gave her that brooch to transform into Sailor Moon. Granted, that was an anime and this was real life... but still.

A witch?

Her mind flashed to Willow of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Halliwell sisters of Charmed (Hope was a bit of a fan of shows from the nineties and early two-thousands) as well as the Scarlet Witch.

So, she was a witch. It skipped a generation and she had gotten it from her grandmother who tried to kill her. The grandmother who made it so her parents had to give her up...

She didn't notice her hand curl into a fist.

Mind made up, she stood and headed for the door to speak with her aunt.

"Aunt Bex?"

Rebekah looked up from the book she was reading to see Hope standing in the hallway in her pajamas. She was wringing and twisting her hands nervously. "Yes?

"I want to go to that school."

Rebekah sighed and gave a small smile. "I figured that you would."

Hope felt a weight come off her shoulders, glad that things between she and her aunt were cool again. She had a feeling her aunt was feeling the same way.

"So, how am I supposed to send an owl?"


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own The Originals or Harry Potter. Both belong to their respective copyright holders. No payment is being received for this work.

A/N: Hey everyone. I'm sorry for the wait. I've been busy with school as well as my freelance work and my new job. So, updates will be few and far between. I just figured I would leave this as a bit of a heads up.

The next day, an hour before sunrise, Minerva found herself on the Mikaelson sister's front door, she was met with a much warmer welcome.

"Minerva, please come in." Rebekah opened the door and stood back to allow her in.

"Hello, Rebekah." She sat down when the vampire offered a chair to her. She looked around, noticing the absence of a certain girl. "Where's Hope? Still asleep, I take it?"

Rebekah sat across from her on the couch. "She is here... She couldn't sleep so she decided to get ready for today early. Now she's just changing her clothes a lot. She does that when she's nervous..." She craned her neck toward the back room. "Hope, whatever you have on is just fine. Come out here."

There was a small squeak, loud slamming of drawers, fumbling, and crash and then "OW!" More fumbling. "Coming!" After a few more moments, the girl entered the living room. She looked extremly nervous but tried to put on a brave front, like it was just a normal day. "Hello, Professor McGonagall."

"Hello, Hope," she held out her hand for her and after a moment's hesitation, Hope shook it. She then looked from the girl to the vampire, about to ask if whether or not Hope would be attending school, when Hope beat her to it.

"Where do I buy an owl and what's transfiguration?"

Minerva's brows rose while Rebekah gave a small shrug. It seemed the decision to attend Hogwarts was made last night. "You will be able to purchase your materials in Diagon Alley. If you are attending the school, I will be more than happy to help you locate where you can get your supplies. As for what is transfiguration..." The witch glanced around and her eyes landed on a vase full of red roses and she gave her wand a swirl and flick.

Hope gasped and Rebekah's eyes popped when the flowers transformed into bright red cardinals that took flight around the living room. With another wand swirl from Minerva the birds turned back into the flowers that they once were and levitated themselves back into the vase.

"Show off..." Rebekah muttered beneath her breath but inwardly she was a bit shaken. Other than her mother's spell to turn them into vampires, and witches lighting water on fire, she had never seen anything quite like that. How powerful did you have to be to turn a plant into a bird and back without breaking a sweat? Granted, after the vampirism spell from her Mommy Dearest it was small potatoes, but still...

What else did this faction of witches keep from the rest of the world that the others were unaware of? It unnerved her to know there were certain things after a thousand years of life she wasn't privy to.

"I've GOT to learn how to do that!" Hope cheered as she ran over to inspect the flowers.

Minerva gave her a small smile and went back to her seat. "That is the class I teach at Hogwarts. Though it will be quite some time before you learn to do as I have done. Also, if you choose to become an animagus, you would have to register with our Ministry of Magic."

Rebekah's brows rose. They had a Ministry!?

"An ani-what?" Hope asked, still in awe.

"An animagus is a person who chooses to transform into an animal via magic."

Now Hope brightened. "Like a werewolf?"

"No. A werewolf cannot help what he or she becomes."

Hope's brow furrowed and she opened her mouth to ask another question but Rebekah cut her off, "Now, what about her supplies?" the vampire asked. "Where do I purchase these books?" Hope looked annoyed at her aunt's interruption but Rebekah still asked questions. "And where do I get her an owl? I know I can get her a toad or cat anywhere, but an owl?" Now Hope's eyes brightened at the mention of a pet.

"There are shops in London where books, and an owl can be purchased. Since I already know of your decision to attend the school you will not have to send the owl. But, if you still want one to correspond back and forth with Hope while she is in school, the school has owls that she can use. It's completely optional."

Hope's eyes grew huge at the idea of sending letters back and forth via owl while Rebekah just had a blank stare. "What about regular mail or text messages?"

"We do not use muggle post normally, especially not at Hogwarts. As for... whatever text messages are-" Minerva stopped when Rebekah pulled out a device, almost like the one she used to contact Elijah years ago. She walked over to show her the screen. There was a series of taps, picture of Hope sticking her tongue out then a keyboard. She typed 'Hi Hope!' and hit a different button. There was a buzz from across the room and the girl pulled out a similar device and typed. Minerva looked back and forth and jumped when the device in Rebekah's hand buzzed and she looked down. It showed a new message underneath the one Rebekah sent. 'WAAZZZUUUPPPPPP!'

Minerva really did have to give it to the Muggles. They certainly knew how to make things efficient without magic. "Much faster than an owl..." Minerva conceded, "However, due to the high concentration of magic at the school, electronic devices such as this would be rendered useless."

Now Hope looked crestfallen. "No, iPod?" she sounded as if someone strangled a puppy in front of her.

"Good, maybe you'll actually get things done without listening to that bloody thing day and night," Rebekah chided.

Hope sighed and folded her legs underneath her on the couch while Rebekah mulled the thought over. "Well, I'll guess I'll get you an owl. Consider it part of your back to school shopping."

Hope's sullen demeanor disappeared as quickly as it came. "I can get an owl? Cool!"

Minerva gave another small smile before getting down to another order of business. "Now, Hope. Has your aunt told you the other reason I'm here?"

Hope froze but nodded. "The cloak spell that's about to wear off? Yeah, I know."

Minerva was a bit disturbed at how calmly she stated it, but continued anyway. "How are you feeling about this?"

Hope gave a half shrug. "Its weird... but... I guess if it keeps me safe then I can't complain." Her fingers and thumbs twiddled, and she looked down at the floor then up at the witch. "Thank you."

Minerva couldn't help but feel touched at the genuine gratitude in the girl's voice. "You're quite welcome. But first we'll see if its still holding up." She then stood. "Be very still."

Hope sat rigidly as Minerva pulled out her wand. She spoke an incantation and waved the wand over the girl, starting from her head to her feet. Hope gasped when a warm glow illuminated over her form.

"Hmm, it seems the spell is still holding." She asked for Hope to stand, which she did. The young girl was clearly in a the beginning stages of a growth spurt. Her shoulders were wider than her hips but in a few years that was due to change once she filled out. There was a small smattering of hair on her arms and she knew she would have to take house points from some of the houses once she came to the school as the boys (mostly likely Slytherins) would try to do jinxes to get her shirt to fly open. She was clearly going through puberty, so why has the spell still up?

"Rebekah can I speak with you a moment?"

The two women went into the kitchen while Hope sat back down to watch cartoons. "What is it?"

"The spell is still holding, though she's clearly going through puberty... I specifically tied it to the fact that she is a child." She drummed her fingers on the table in thought. "Has she began her lunar tide?"

Rebekah jerked at the word 'lunar'. "Her what?"

"Oh, sorry, that's an old fashioned term from my time. I believe they call it menstruation now."

Rebekah seemed to sag in relief. "Oh, that... I don't think so. I haven't had one of those in a thousand years so she would need to tell me since we don't keep anything for that in the house now."

"Well, then that might be it. But in the mean time, it seems to be holding. But, it would be a good idea to owl me once you purchase an owl. If that happens before school starts, message me right away."

Rebekah nodded. "Right... I think I want to get that owl today then. Care to show me where to buy one? Along with all of her other things?"

Minerva agreed and Rebekah then turned to Hope with a beaming smile. "Get ready, Hope. We're going owl shopping."

Hope practically sprang off the couch and toed on her shoes. "Okay!"

"Hope, you haven't even had break-" Rebekah protested but the the girl rushed to the fridge, grabbed an apple and a bottled water and some wrapped treat from a box that read 'Pop Tart' before running back to the door.

"Okay, I got breakfast! I'll be waiting outside."

Minerva and Rebekah just watched the brunette blur vanish before turning to each other. "She's certainly eager... but most Muggle raised children usually are."

"That she is... But, if I am going to be without her for three-fourths of a year, then I do want another big shopping trip with her." The vampire grabbed her purse. "So where do I even buy her a broom?"

"First years aren't allowed to have brooms on campus, so you needn't worry about that now."

"Thank God..."

* * *

Hours later the trio were in Diagon Alley, carrying most of Hope's books and supplies. Once Minerva had showed them the entrance to the wondrous spot in the wizarding world, Hope's mouth had dropped and even Rebekah, who was over a thousand years old, was marveled by the place. There was the strangest bank either of them had ever been to and Rebekah's eyes popped when she got her first look at a goblin.

However, it seemed they were no strangers to vampires as they only gave her a beady look, eyes flicking to her daylight ring, before going back to their work though they greeted Minerva nicely enough as they seemed to know her. They set about trading "muggle" money for and Rebekah's eyes widened at the large gold, silver and bronze pieces that were placed in her hands for her to do her shopping.

"Auntie Bex!" Hope squealed once they left the strange bank. She was pointing at a shop. "Look! Owls!"

Hope grabbed her aunt's hand and tugged her into Owl Emporium, almost bumping into a plump redheaded woman carrying a beautiful screech owl and a beaming redheaded boy who was standing proudly. "Sorry!" Hope called absently.

"No worries, dear," the woman said kindly before turning to her son as they walked off to other areas of the Alley. "So what do you want to name him, Percy?"

Rebekah sighed, knowing they wouldn't get anything done if she did not get her an owl. Also, Rebekah was anxious to pick up the only means of communication she would be able to have with the girl once she was away at school. "All right. Pick one."

Owls of all variety sat in their cages, either asleep with their heads beneath their wings, or staring at her imploringly. Some appeared to be sizing her up, as if determining if she was worthy to own them.

Rebekah saw a rather beautiful snowy owl and called for Hope's attention. "Hope, what about her?"

Hope ran over and looked at the owl, noting how pretty she was but for some reason didn't want her. She felt like she would be stealing if she were to buy that owl as if she were meant for someone else. "Nah, she looks like a diva."

The owl gave an irritated screech and turned her head away from the girl, causing Rebekah to laugh. "Well, I think you're right... Which is why I like her. But, I'll let you pick."

Hope browsed up and down the shop, trying to find the perfect owl. She stopped when one caught her attention. It was a huge Great Horned Owl. She had seen many of them in America, but so far she hadn't seen any in England. It was brown and white, with very prominent ear tufts and a sharp gold gaze. The owl stared her down, almost as if challenging her.

Hope smiled. "Auntie Bex, I want him!"

Rebekah came over and arched her brow at the unimpressed look it gave her, even though she knew it could tell what she was by the way it ruffled its wings when she came into its view. "Bloody hell, that look. He reminds me of your father..."

Hope's smile grew. Now she really wanted him. "Can I have him?"

Ten minutes later, Hope was bouncing through Diagon Alley, the caged owl in her hand. Her books had been purchased as well as her robes and other supplies. "Professor?" she turned to the witch still accompanying them. "I still need a wand."

Minerva took the owl from her and led her to Ollivander's Wand Shop. "Go on, that's where everyone gets their wands. There are other wand shops, but Ollivander's seems to be the most popular."

Hope nodded and went into the shop while Rebekah and Minerva waited outside. It was quiet and dark inside the place and she couldn't help but feel a bit creeped out by the place. She looked up at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly up to the ceiling. She felt her skin tingle and her fingers itched. "Hello," she called nervously.

"Good afternoon, young lady," a soft voice said.

Hope looked up to see an old man with pale eyes giving her a kind smile. "Hi... I'm Hope Mitchell."

Mr. Ollivander pulled a measuring tape with silver marking from his pocket. "Which is your wand arm, Miss Mitchell? Mitchell... Muggle-born I take it? American from the sound of your voice?"

"Um... I lived in Chicago..." She didn't know how to answer the other question. "And... I'm right-handed."

He began to explain about the cores of the wands while measuring her as if he were fitting her for a new skirt and hat. Apparently he used dragon heartstrings, phoenix feather and unicorn hairs. Hope's brows rose at the fact there were unicorns and phoenixes in the world.

"Now," he handed her a box an took out a wand and instructed her to give it a wave. She blinked but did as she was told, only to have him snatch it away from her. "Try this one." Same results. It was well over twenty minutes later and she had yet to see what the old man was waiting for. At that time Rebekah had entered the shop.

"What is taking so long?" Rebekah asked.

"The wand chooses the witch, not the other way around." Mr. Ollivander nodded at Rebekah. "You must be her mother."

"Aunt, as it happens." Rebekah saw all of the discarded but neatly stacked boxes and gave a sigh as if she knew this would take some time. "Hope, I'll be at exchanging the rest of the money back at Gringotts. Professor McGonagall will wait here for you."

Once she left, she was handed another wand. She felt a warmth shoot up her arm as her fingers curled around the hilt. She heard him mention something about a phoenix feather and oak but was barely listening. She gave the wand a wave, bringing it over her head and swishing it down in a graceful arc. A stream of gold, silver and blackish blue sparks shot from the end. Hope let out a delighted gasp while the wand maker clapped.

"Very good, Miss Mitchell, that is the one for you. Dragonheart string, eleven inches, a bit flexible and made of oak native to the Americas."

Hope giddily bounced to pay for her wand. She paid for it with the Galleons Rebekah had handed her. She then headed out to where Professor McGonagall waited for her to continue their shopping.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own brain. Harry Potter and The Originals belong to their respective owners. I am making no money from this work of fanfiction.**

**A/N: Well, I'm glad I have a few people who are interested in this story. I will continue to update it as quickly as possible but with a research paper coming up in a few weeks, expect the updates to taper down soon.  
**

**_September 1st_**

"Now, you pay attention in every class, understand me?"

"Yes, Auntie Bex..."

"And you owl me the moment you get there. Oh God, what if the owl gets lost..."

"He won't, jeez..." Hope rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Now, do you have everything? Books? Cloak?"

"Yes, Auntie Bex..." Hope rolled her eyes on the way to the train station. Today was the day she was to head to Hogwarts and her aunt had been fussing over her non-stop since this morning. It was normally like that the first day of any school she went to, but it seemed worse now. She was overly clingy today for some reason, like she vaguely remembered from her first day of kindergarten.

They were now making there way through King's Cross. Rebekah insisted on pulling Hope's wheeled-case herself. Hope found herself looking back and forth from her ticket to platforms nine and ten. Rebekah looked down at her befuddled niece. "What's wrong?"

"My ticket says platform nine and three quarters. Where is that?"

"What?" Rebekah grabbed the ticket from her and furrowed her brow in confusion. "What the Hell?"

Panic seized Hope's stomach and she began breathing heavily. What if she missed her train? Did they print this by mistake? Was it a different train she had to get on? "Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod..."

"Hope, calm down." Her aunt told her. "It might be like that alley, there's a special way for you to get in..."

That made sense. Hope sighed in relief as she let that option turn in her mind. Professor McGonagall had told her that a lot of places were invisible to muggles, and that only other witches, wizards and magical creatures could see them. She looked around, but saw nothing. Just a crowd of busy looking people. Hope whimpered, feeling hopeless until a few voices caught her attention.

"I do hope I'm sorted into Gryffindor! What about you, Padma?"

"Well... it would be nice to get into Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw would be nice as well..."

Relief flooded through her like water being poured into a cup. Witches! She ran to the sound of the voices and noticed two girls about her age, clearly sisters, with long black hair worn in what she thought was called a plait and dark skin. "Excuse me?"

The two girls who were with their parents turned and Hope suddenly felt like the world's biggest moron. "Um... Hi... I..."

Her aunt was truly her personal savior for she swooped in just as she was making a babbling idiot of herself. "My niece here is having a bit of an issue getting to where she was supposed to be. I'm correct in assuming you're on your way to Hogwarts?"

The two girls nodded in unison while the woman, a beautiful woman with curly dark hair and skin like her daughters, smiled at Hope. "It's your first year? It's my daughters' as well."

The man offered to show Hope how to get onto the platform. Taking one of his daughters' cases he stood directly between the platforms of nine and ten and ran straight for it. Hope gasped and Rebekah winced, expecting a crash but both of their mouths dropped when he simply disappeared through it. Next, one of the girls ran through followed by her sister who hesitated a little at first.

"Um... Auntie Bex, do you think you can get through?"

Rebekah was wondering that herself, considering she was a vampire and not a witch. However, she was able to see what had happened while the rest of the station looked on oblivious, so there might have been hope. Besides, she was a supernatural creature.

"We'll go together, but best you hold onto your cart in case this gets embarrassing..."

Hope grabbed hold of her cart while Rebekah held her shoulders. Taking a deep breath, they both ran straight towards the platform. Hope expected the pain of impact and a string of curses from Rebekah but it never happened. The two ran straight through the wall and came out on platform nine and three quarters. The two were greeted with sight of excited students, parents, owls, cats, toads and most amazingly of all, a bright red steam engine that read Hogwarts Express.

"Well... that's bloody convenient..." Rebekah muttered though with awe in her voice.

Hope barely heard her, she was busy whipping her head back and forth, taking in everything around her. There were kids her age and older, all of them wearing robes, hugging their families. She noted one boy with an old woman with the weirdest hat she'd ever seen. "I lost my toad, Gran..."

She heard the old woman and let out an exasperated sigh. Hope walked a bit, noted a girl with bushy hair talking excitedly to the twin girls she met, both looking quite harassed but the girl took no notice. A flash of red caught her vision and she noted the boy from the owl store with what must've been his family... his huge family. All boys and one small girl. Two of the boys were twins and there was a tall boy who looked about her age. They were with a black haired boy with glasses and a snowy owl. That looked like the same owl her aunt had wanted her to purchase.

"How on Earth have I never come across this in a thousand years...?" Rebekah muttered under her breath as she glanced behind her to see a sign that read Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Hope had took her owl and placed him in an empty compartment, she then ran to get her case which was still being held by her aunt.

"Hope, let me help you with that-"

"I got it, Auntie..." Hope pressed the button on the handle, pushing the handle of the roller-case down so it was now more of a suitcase and lugged it up the steps with some difficulty, nearly falling and crashing into a boy who was trying to exit the train.

"Sorry..." Hope winced. She risked a glance behind her. Aunt Bex had her hands on her hips in amused exasperation.

"No worries," the boy said. "Can I give you a hand?"

Hope looked up to see an older boy already in his robes. There was a patch on his robes of blue and bronze.

"Oh, it's okay. I got it-"

"Please, do," Aunt Bex said from the platform.

The boy took her case and placed it into her compartment, placing it on the high luggage rack above the seats. It was a good thing he had helped. She was nowhere near tall enough to reach that.

"Thanks," she said gratefully.

"Not a problem," he held out his hand. "I'm Roger Davies."

"Hope Mitchell."

He seemed mildly interested when he heard her American accent. "Well, welcome to Hogwarts. I hope to see you in Ravenclaw House." He then left to join a group of kids his age.

She hopped off the train to say goodbye to her Aunt who stood tearfully. "All right. I packed you lunch for the train." She handed Hope a bag fulled with sandwiches and mini pizzas and cookies. "I don't know how long the train ride will be so I hope that's enough." She began to pull out her robes. "Now, you make sure to change the minute you're on the train. Owl me every day and-"

"Aunt Bex..." Hope sighed in exasperation.

"Right, you'll be too busy studying to owl me everyday. Now, remember what I told you to go to Professor McGonagall about?"

"If I get my first "lady time" while I'm there? Got it..." Hope's face burned with embarrassment.

Rebekah's brow rose at the annoyed look on the girl's face and she gave a small smile. "I'm clinging, aren't I?"

"Little bit..."

Rebekah smiled and gave the girl a hug. "I'm going to miss you so much." Her eyes prickled and her lips trembled.

"Awww, Auntie..." Hope hugged her back. "Don't cry! It's awkward!"

Rebekah laughed at that and pulled back. "You have fun. Learn loads and become a kickass mega witch. And bring me back one of those bags that can hold anything..."

"I'll try..."

The conductor then called for all to board then. Hope gave her aunt one last hug and grabbed her carry-on bag. She boarded the train, entering her compartment. Running to the window, she pressed her face to the glass, smiling and waving at her aunt who stood between the mother of the slew of redheads and the helpful parents of the twin girls. Rebekah had tears running from her eyes but was smiling as she waved goodbye to her niece. Hope waved at her quickly retreating figure and when the picked up speed and the vampire faded from view, Hope sat down in her seat, barely able to contain herself. She was finally here! Hogwarts! A school for witches and wizards! It was finally happening!

She wondered what her classes would be like. She knew she was to have McGonagall for Transfiguration. God, she couldn't wait to turn things into other things. Was there such a thing as human Transfiguration? Like off of the old nineties movie _The Craft._ She'd love to give herself blonde highlights without buying dye.

Over the summer, she had perused her books, not even bothering with her normal summer activities of playing in the sprinklers, reading her secret collection of trashy romance novels and Netflix binges. She had even forgotten to marathon Sailor Moon, she was so busy reading. The moving pictures alone...

She pulled out her book, _Standard Book of Spells,_ and flipped to a random page. It was one for a fire spell. Hope's mind flashed to the fire at the diner back in June. _Maybe_...

"Do you mind if we sit here?"

Hope, who had just took out her wand, looked up to see the sisters from earlier. She shook her head and gestured for them to sit down, which they did. The two began chattering excitedly with each other while Hope felt a bit awkward, wanting to join the conversation and introduce herself but was a bit shy to do so. They were going on and on about a boy named Harry Potter who was supposed to be going to the school.

"Oh look, it's the Patil sisters..."

The two girls froze and turned to the door of their compartment where another girl stood with a couple of other girls. Hope looked up and could tell just from their stances that they were the bullies of their year. The girl in the front, a sneering brunette, strolled into the compartment and leaned against the wall. "I've always wondered, does being fraternal twins make you both half-assed at everything else?" The girls behind her snickered, and one other girl spoke up.

"Bet they get in Hufflepuff. Let's all watch as passably cute becomes really stupid really fast."

The sisters both looked furious, one seemed ready to spring out of her seat while the other breathed angrily through her nose. Hope felt her temper flare and she gave the group a withering glare. The leader of the mean girls took notice of her and looked her up and down like she was a rusty bench in a slum.

"I really should've talked my parents into sending me to Durmstrang. They're letting anyone in Hogwarts now..."

"Bet they started with you!" Hope growled out before she was able to stop herself.

The sisters gasped and looked at each other in shock. The group of girls at the door gaped at her while the ring leader looked startled for a moment before putting on, what Hope would forever call, the 'bitchface' and stepped to her.

"Watch it, Yank. You don't want to get on my bad side."

Hope scoffed and folded her arms. "But all of your sides look bad."

The girl tensed, glare hardening and eyes wide in shock but Hope continued. Once she got started it was hard to stop her, especially lately. "Y'know what? I think I have my own issues with the school. Especially the letter. I was told I could have an owl, cat or toad..." Hope then looked the girl up and down and sneered. "No one said anything about a _pug_, like the one in our compartment. I feel cheated."

The girl's face turned bright red with embarrassment and anger while her mates whispered behind her. She stepped forward. "You're going to regret that, you bloody Yank tart."

Did this ugly chick just pick a fight with her? "Come at me!"

"Just you wait!" The girl then spun on her heel and pushed through the gaggle of girls, headed to another compartment with them at her heels.

Hope sat down and scoffed, raging still boiling through her though it was simmering down. "Bitch..."

"That..." the voice of one of the girls had Hope looking up at the beaming faces of the twins, "was amazing!"

"Excellent!" cried the other, though a bit more quietly.

Hope smiled and gave a small laugh. "Thanks... Who was that cow?"

"Pansy Parkinson," one the girls said with disgust but then smiled. "I'm Parvati Patil and this is Padma." the girl stuck her hand out and Hope shook it, eager to make friends instead of enemies.

"Hope Mitchell. Nice to meet you."

"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

The girls looked up to see a plump woman with a kind smile pushing a trolley with all kinds of treats. Her aunt had packed her a lunch of roast beef sandwiches, chips, sodas and mini pizzas but Hope felt like some candy was in order after dealing with stuck up girls. However when she dug into her pocket, she noticed she only had the Muggle money from her allowance.

"Aww crap..."

She didn't notice the two girls look at each other before the one, Parvati stood with her purse. "We'll take three chocolate frogs, candy wands and Every Flavored Beans" Hope was pleasantly surprised when Parvati sat one of each next to her.

"Thanks!"

* * *

The rest of the train ride passed quickly now that she had people to talk to. The twins seemed fascinated to hear that Hope grew up in America. They had wanted to ask her about that once they heard her speak but refrained in doing so in front of their parents. Hope didn't really want to talk about America as she was more keen to learn about the wizard world. They also got a good laugh once Hope took out her chocolate frog and it hopped into her hair.

"Oh my God! It's alive!"

"No, it's just spelled to do that..."

She finally had managed to catch it before the spell wore off. She looked at the card that came with the treat. There was a picture of a dark-haired woman in a toga, her dark eyes glaring haughtily. She read the name on the bottom.

"Circe... Ohh, from Homer's _Odyssey! _My Aunt tried to get me to read it... Honestly, I was only interested in the Sirens as well as Circe."

"I think that muggle, Homer, got it mixed up. He might have meant to say Veela but didn't know their proper names..." Padma said as she put away her own card of Ignitia Wildsmith.

"I finally got Morgan Le Fay!" Parvati said happily as she placed her card away.

"I might just have to read the books that Aunt Bex has when I get home..." Hope noted, thinking of the Tales of King Arthur.

They turned to their other treats and the twins then got another good laugh from the flavored beans. "Why does this taste like a pickle?" Hope asked, face scrunched.

"Well, they do say every flavor..." Padma's face scrunched up comically after popping one in her mouth. "Ewww... boogers..."

"So," Hope asked as she pulled out on of her mini pizzas, dividing them into threes so she could share, "who is this Harry Potter you were talking about? I heard people on the train talking about him too when I got on."

Both girls look surprised she would ask such a question, but then Padma shook her head as if remembering something. "Oh, that's right, you're Muggle raised."

"Of course you wouldn't know," Parvati said.

"Know what?" Hope asked.

The two girls eagerly launched into the tale of The Boy Who Lived. Apparently, a dark wizard, one who was responsible for a great war, killed the boy's entire family but he was the only one to survive. And anyone who this wizard decided was going to die, well, they died so it was amazing that this boy lived. Also, not only had he survived but the dark wizard was never seen or heard from again while Harry, apparently, only had a lightning shaped scar to show from the ordeal.

"Mum and Dad think he's lost all of his power."

"What's his name?"

Now the two girls shivered, jerking back comically. "We don't say his name! No one says his name!" they said in unison.

Hope's brow arched in confusion but she shrugged. "Okay... can you write it down?"

The girls looked at each other again, seeming to have some sort of silent Wonder Twin power conversation but then nodded. Padma pulled out a quill and some ink, quickly jotting down the name.

"Volde-" Hope began to read but Parvati squealed.

"Don't say it!"

Holding up her hands in surrender, she set the paper down. It seemed there was a whole lot she was going to have to learn and soon.

Just then their door opened and another girl entered, this time with lots of bushy hair and teeth that reminded Hope of a rabbit. There was a boy with him who had a round face and seemed to stammer as he took in the compartment filled with girls. "Has anyone seen a toad?" the girl asked for the boy "Neville here has lost one."

Her voice reminded Hope of the bossy girls from her school in America. Hope used to have lots of fun popping rubber bands at the backs of their heads when they tried to tell her what to do during Science class.

"Sorry, no," Hope said as the twins shook their heads.

The girl turned to leave but stopped when she saw the open textbook in Hope's lap as well as her wand. "Oh, were you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She then sat down next to Hope with a look of haughty expectation.

Hope's brows rose and annoyance flared in her middle. "I might... if you ask me nicely instead of acting like you're my teacher instead of a first year lackey like the rest of us."

The girl's face went bright red and she recoiled as if smacked. She heard a gasp as well as muffled snickering from the other side of the compartment that told her Parvati and Padma were highly amused by Hope's choice words.

"That was quite rude! I didn't mean to- I only wanted to-"

"Shouldn't you be helping Neville look for his toad?" Hope asked pointedly and then reached in her tote bag for a paperback.

There was a small squeak from the aforementioned boy. He looked petrified to be brought into a quarrel between girls.

"Hmph!" The girl then stood and stalked to the compartment exit, Neville following after her.

Parvati and Padma broke into giggles once the door shut again. Hope looked back up and felt her cheeks heating in mortification. "Sorry..."

"Don't be," Parvati said. "She was badgering us before we even boarded."

"I understand muggle borns are curious-" Padma sighed

"But she wouldn't shut _up!"_ Parvati finished. "Blah, blah, blah... And that wouldn't have been as bad expect that she was acting is if she knew so much more because she memorized her textbooks..."

"Seriously?"

"Right?" Parvati scoffed. "I bet she ends up in Ravenclaw... and if she does, I hope I don't. I want to be in Gryffindorr."

Hope had recalled there were houses, four of them. From the sounds of it Gryffindor was the best.

The ride seemed to quiet down for a moment until Parvati popped from her seat. "Let's go get a look at him!"

"Who?"

"Harry Potter!"

Before she could protest the two girls both grabbed an arm and pulled her into the hall. They whispered excitedly while dragging along an increasingly awkward Hope. The passed compartment after compartment, stopping when they noticed one held the girls from earlier as well as a boy with white blond hair and pale skin. He had two other boys with him that looked about as mean as bulldogs but as smart as a bag of hammers.

"Ugh, Death Eater spawn..." Parvati sneered but kept moving.

They soon found the compartment where two boys sat. One was the tall redhead she had seen earlier while the other was a skinny boy with messy black hair that stuck out every which way in the back and round glasses that appeared to be taped. "That's him..." Parvati whispered.

"Oh, I think the other boy's a Weasley," Padma informed Hope. "They all have red hair and freckles. Mom went to school with their dad."

As if feeling eyes on them, both boys turned and looked to see the trio gawking at them. The twins quickly ducked and scampered back to their compartment, dragging Hope with them but not before she made contact with the most striking green eyes she had ever seen.

"I think I saw the scar," Parvati said when they went back to their compartment. "That was _the_ scar..."

"That was definitely the scar..." Padma nodded then turned to Hope. "Hope, what did you think?"

"Eh... I don't think I saw a scar..." Hope shrugged. "He had really pretty eyes though..."

"Ohhhh!" Parvati and Padma teased while Hope scoffed and went changing into her robes.

The train began to be slowing down and Hope could see that it was getting dark outside. Mountains and forests were visible under a twilight sky.

"Mum says that after we're sorted into our Houses, we'll get uniforms with our House emblem," Parvati informed Hope. "Much like a Muggle school, I'd imagine. Matching skirts, trousers, sweaters and vests. Oh, and a tie that has our House colors."

"Ah..."

A voice then boomed through the train. "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Hope's stomach dropped and when she glanced at the twins she saw that they looked just as freaked out as she was. With haste she shoved her paperback (A trashy Harlequin novel) into her jeans' pocket and made to leave the train.

After much pushing and shoving from all those around the girls soon found themselves on a small platform. Hope pulled her robes closer as she was shivering from the cold.

"Firs' years!" Firs' years over here!"

Hope looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of the biggest man she had ever seen in her life. He had lots of black hair and a great black beard. The sight of him intimidated her but it seemed that he knew the Potter kid. He then told the first years to follow him down a steep, narrow path. Hope tried to see what was on either side but as it was so dark she figured it must be trees. No one spoke much.

A blonde girl in front of her let out a loud gasp. "Ooooh!"

Hope looked up and couldn't help but echo the nose. It was like something from a dream or a fairy tale or Lord of the Rings! The path had opened onto the edge of a great black lake. Atop of high mountain on the other side, man windows shining in the dark, starry sky, was a huge castle.

"No more'n four to a boat!" The giant man called as he pointed to a fleet of small boats that were sitting by the shore.

Hope, Parvati and Padma squeezed into a boat with the blonde girl who had squealed earlier.

"Amazing isn't it?" the girl breathed then turned to the trio behind her. "I'm Lavender. Lavender Brown."

The other girls introduced themselves halfheartedly, thoroughly entranced by the sight of the castle. Lavender had turned back to the castle, eyes wide with wonder as well.

"Everyone in?" shouted the man from his own boat. "Right then-FORWARD!"

The boats moved on their own at once, gliding across the smooth surface of the lake. Everyone was quiet as they took in the scenery, particularly the great castle.

The boats reached the cliff and the occupants all had to duck their heads as the boats carried them through a curtain of ivy. Then they were sailing through a dark tunnel that seemed to take them beneath the castle, until they reach something that was like an underground harbor. They all clamored out of the boats and up a passageway in the rock, following the light of the giant's lamp. Hope let out a startled squeal when someone stepped on the back of her shoes.

"Sorry!" a boy said from behind her; it was the redheaded boy from Harry Potter's compartment.

"No problem." Inwardly she winced though the pain in her ankle slowly receded. How big were his feet? Jeez...

They were now on the smooth grass that was in front of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. The giant man knocked on the door three times and it opened to reveal Professor McGonagall.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the giant.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

Hope smiled nervously at the older witch who arched her brow in return. The first time Hope had met Professor McGonangall she had been wearing an emerald green pants suit that helped her blend in with regular humans. Now, she was wrapped in a cloak of the same color and had a stern expression on her face. Hope had the feeling that she wouldn't be getting extra marks in the woman's class just because she cloaked her as a baby and went with her to get her things. Wow, it was going to be awkward talking to her about menses when Hope first got hers.

As they walked, she saw the boys from earlier, Harry and his friend looking downright nervous while the girl with the bushy hair looked expectant. The professor lead them through the entrance hall which was huge to a small chamber and welcomed them to Hogwarts. She explained about the sorting and House points. Apparently there was a test to determine which house the first years were best suited. After she was done, she told them that the sorting ceremony would take place in a few moments and to wait quietly until she returned. Once she left everyone was looking quite petrified. Never one to deal with uncomfortable silences well, Hope cleared her throat.

"So..." Hope muttered to a tall black boy next her. "Nervous?" She herself hated being the center of attention unless she was dancing.

The boy laughed lightly. "Nope," he said sarcastically. "I'm Dean."

"Hope."

"Seamus," another boy with sandy hair whispered to her with a smile. "You're American?"

"Yeah. Irish?" she asked him and he nodded.

"I'm Susan." Another girl muttered. Apparently introductions were a good way to take their minds off of the impending sorting.

"I'm Ron," the red headed boy said to the group.

"I'm Lavender." The girl from their boat piped up.

"Ugh, look at the Yank trying to make friends..." Pansy whispered to her group of friends and the pale boy with the blond hair sniggered.

Hope squared her shoulders, her temper flaring up again and smirked humorlessly. "Someone teach the pug to play dead and heel. Because I'm not feeding her any scraps."

The twins both bit back snickered while the rest either gasped or laughed. Hope noted that the red haired boy and Harry Potter both looked like they were trying not to laugh. Pansy fumed while the boys she stood with looked shocked. Pansy quickly recovered and stepped towards her and Hope was more than ready for a throw down.

"Don't fight, you'll get us in trouble!" the bushy haired girl hissed.

Hope wasn't even listening, her annoyance with both the pug and the rabbit was so high. Her fist clenched and she was more than ready to rearrange the Parkinson's face when something cold swept past her. She looked up as did everyone else and gasped at the sight of over a dozen ghosts phasing through the wall.

"Holy..." Hope had forgotten all about the girl she wanted to deck at the sight of the spirits. And it was a good thing too, for Professor McGonangall had just arrived.

"Move along now," she told the ghosts. "The ceremony is about the start." She then turned to the first years. "Form a line and follow me."

Hope found herself behind the bushy haired girl but in front of, to her extreme displeasure, Pansy who had an immense amount of fun kicking Hope's ankles and stepping on the back of her shoes as they walked. It was all Hope could do not to whirl around and elbow the girl in the face.

Now, she was entering with other first year students, being lead by Professor McGonagall. Four long tables, the tables of the different houses, sat in the room but she was mostly entranced by the floating candles and the ceiling that mirrored the night sky. She could hear that know-it-all girl going on about the ceiling and how she read about it.

_Good grief, does she ever shut up!?_

Professor McGonagall then placed a stool in front of the first years and then a pointed conical hat. But what tripped her out the most was the fact that the hat burst into song. One would think that with the floating candles a singing hat wouldn't shock her, but guess not.

After the hat finished its song, everyone in the great hall clapped. She could hear the boy Ron complaining that his brother had tricked him, saying something about a troll.

_Trolls!? There's trolls too!?_

While she was in her mind about trolls she did not notice that Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a roll of parchment until she called a name. "Abbot, Hannah!"

Hope quickly came out of her troll-daze. It was starting. Parvati glanced back her, nervous-faced and turned back to the front of the room. The girl Hannah along with Susan had become Hufflepuffs and the table on the far left exploded in applause for the both of them. A boy named Terry Boot became a Ravenclaw and the table second from the left exploded and Hope could make out the boy that had helped her with her bag shaking hands with Terry. Another girl name Mandy Brocklehurst became a Ravenclaw as well but the girl from Hope's boat, Lavender, was the first to become a Gryffindor. One of the girls that had messed with them on the train, a hefty girl named Millicent Bulstrode, became a Slytherin. Parvati had told her that house was full of assholes. No wonder that girl was sorted there.

"Corner, Michael!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Crabbe, Vincent!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Cornfoot, Stephen!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"DAVIS, TRACEY!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Dunbar, Fey!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Finnigan, Seamus!"

"GRYFFINDOR!

"Goldstein, Anthony!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Goyle, Gregory!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Granger, Hermione!"

The bushy haired girl Hope didn't care for scrambled to the stool and eagerly pulled the hat onto her head. There was a moment of silence before the hat cried out "GRYFFINDOR!"

Hope swore she heard a small moan from the boy Ron while Parvati rolled her eyes. Hope snickered and turned back to the Sorting.

"Greengrass, Daphne!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Hopkins, Wayne!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Hope's nerves became worse as Professor McGonagall got closer to those with last names ending in 'M' and wanted nothing more than for it to be over with. She hoped to the starry sky that she wasn't in Slytherin with a bunch of jerks. Or Hufflepufff... Though, as she caught a glance at a VERY handsome fourth year boy, she was wondering if maybe she _could_ be in Hufflepuff.

"Jones, Megan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

As she watched, she noticed that sometimes the hat sorted a person right away while with others it took its sweet time. Dear god, what if it didn't sort her! What if it said something like "You should just go back to America and go to UCLA" or something like that. Granted, she wouldn't be able to go to college until she was eighteen... But, still...

"Li, Sue!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Longbottom, Neville!"

The boy who lost his toad ran to the stool, said toad clutched firmly in hand. The hat was placed on his head and it took quite a while to sort him, however just when Hope thought the hat would give up if finally called "GRYFFINDOR!" Red-faced, Neville scurried from the stool, hat still on his head and the Hall erupted in laughter. He rushed back to hand the hat to Morag MacDougle who became a Ravenclaw.

_Shit... They were at the Ms now. Oh god..._

"Macmillain, Ernest!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Malone, Roger!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Malfoy, Draco!"

The pale, blonde boy swaggered to the stool and the hat barely touched his sleek head before the hat cried "SLYTHERIN!" He then strutted off to the table between the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws to join the other Slytherins, or as Hope had dubbed them, assholes.

"Mitchell, Hope!"

Hope squeaked, nearly jumping out of her skin, and skittered to the stool before she could think too hard on it. The Sorting Hat was placed atop her head and she could hear its voice right in her ear, though it seemed no one else could.

"Hmm, very, very interesting. You're quite smart. Not afraid to work hard. But... I see a burning rage buried just beneath the surface as well."

_Huh?_

"Oh, yes... You didn't know? It's so animalistic, but you already know why... But, that may come to be a good thing because aside from that you have a thirst to right wrongs past that's greater than this wrath... You see yourself as a noble fighter on a mission for your family... and I know just the place to put you for that... GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table erupted with applause and she couldn't help but feel pleased she was going to placed in Professor McGonagall's house. She gave the witch a beaming smile before going to her new house table. She sat down next to Seamus as well as the two redheaded twins who gave her pats on the back. The prefect, Percy gave her a warm welcome and she couldn't help but note with some displeasure that the annoying know-it-all girl was in her house as well. Well, as long as she did not have to share a dorm with her.

The Sorting continued and she clapped the loudest when Parvati was sorted into Gryffindor as well and gave a small wave when Padma ended up in Ravenclaw. More names were called, the pug-faced cow Parkinson was sorted into Slytherin and then McGonagall called "Potter, Harry!"

The hall went silent and then the whispers started.

"Harry Potter? Did she say Harry Potter?"

Hope watched as the dark haired boy made his way to the stool, extremely nervous. Many people in the hall were trying to get a good look at him. The hat was placed on his head and after a few moments...

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The explosion on applause was so great that Hope's ears actually hurt but she joined as well as Harry smiled weakly and rushed to the table to receive many handshakes as the redheaded twin boys sung "We've got Potter!"

He sat next to Percy the Prefect, directly across from Hope. She looked up and was again struck by how pretty his eyes were. She was actually a bit jealous. Hers were just boring old blue... How basic.

Harry had turned to the Sorting, apparently to see which house his friend Ron would be Sorted into. The tall black boy, Dean, was sorted into Gryffindor and soon so was Ronald Weasley. She applauded the last one to become a Gryffindor just as Zabini, Blaise became a Slytherin. Ron sat next to his brothers and Harry just as the head master, Albus Dumbledore rose to offer a few words.

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts. Before we begin our banquet I would like to say a few words. And here they are. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

He sat back down and the Hall clapped and cheered while a few of the younger students looked quite confused, Hope included.

"Wh-what?" Hope blinked, looking helplessly at an older girl.

"Just go with it... He's brilliant, Professor Dumbledore... but batty. I'm Katie Bell, by the way. I heard there was an American coming to Hogwarts. Care for some pork chops, Hope?"

Hope looked down and her eyes popped as the dishes suddenly filled with food. He stomach gave a great growl and she eagerly piled her plate high with chicken, roast potatoes, pork chops and carrots.

"Good lord, are you going to eat all that?" Lavender asked in surprise.

"Yup!" Hope said as she shoveled food into her mouth. She'd probably regret this later. Like she usually did during summer barbecues. She glanced back up at Harry and their eyes met again and she flushed at the fact she was caught staring. She then remembered when she was caught staring on the train and flushed even deeper.

"Hi... I'm Hope... Sorry about the train gawking... thing."

The boy gave her a small smile. "It's all right. I'm Harry." He took a sip of his drink. "So... what's America like?"

Hope happily launched into a description of muggle Chicago where she had grown up. She noticed a few people had stopped talking to listen and she flushed at being the center of attention. Seriously, unless she was playing sports, cracking jokes or dancing, she hated it.

"Who's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked and she just stared blankly.

"Er..."

"Ron, she's muggle raised. She wouldn't know," Percy admonished.

"Hagrid tells me its a big sport in the Wizard world," Harry explained and she nodded. "Like wizard soccer... but on brooms and in the air..."

Hope's brows rose at that. She would have to see that but she wasn't too keen on playing it. She and heights did not get along.

Soon the talk turned to families. She learned that Parvati and Padma were half bloods. Their father was the son of a muggle born witch from Delhi while their mother came from a long line of magical people. Lavender came from a long line of witches and wizards. Seamus's father was a muggle and his mother was a witch. Neville also came from a long line of magical folk but for the longest thought he wouldn't have powers. The slew of redheads were also from an old wizarding family.

"What about you, Hope?" Parvati asked.

"Eh..." How to answer this. She couldn't just blurt out 'My parents are werewolves and vampires...' Her aunt had told her not to mention that to anyone. "My grandmother was a witch..."

"What about your parents?" Lavender asked.

"They... didn't have powers. My mom wasn't from a witch family. And my dad wasn't a wizard..."

"Oh... he was a Squib?" Neville asked quietly.

"A who?"

"A Squib... a person with magical parents but they don't have powers themselves..."

"Oh... yeah."

Across the table, Harry noticed Hope's eyes darkened at the mention of her grandmother. But, it seemed she was saved from talking about it further by Dean Thomas.

"I've been to America once. My older cousin took me there for Atlanta, Georgia's DragonCon."

Hope's mouth dropped and she whirled to face him. "I've never been! I'm so jealous! Did you cosplay!?"

"I went as Han Solo. It was awesome!"

"Do you have pictures?"

"Not on me... I can see if I can get my mum to send them."

"Sweet!"

"You have a convention for dragons in America?" Ron asked in amazement. "What until I tell Charlie!"

"Huh? No... it's a convention for lots of muggle stuff like comics and stuff," Hope explained.

She and Dean then launched into a conversation about muggle comics, shows and other geekery while the others sat in confusion. Ron in particular looked to Harry for an explanation which he promised later. At some point during the conversation Hope had shifted and there was a small thud. Parvati then bent over to pick up something she had dropped and came back up with a paperback book.

"The cover's not moving..." Lavender noted with raised brows.

"Harry said muggle pictures don't move... Bloody weird..."

Harry noticed the cover of the book. It showed a beautiful blond woman in a flowing dress, low cut dress that exposed much cleavage and a half naked, rugged, muscular man stood behind her on the deck of what looked like a pirate ship. The woman was swooning against him and it was clear they were about to kiss.

Parvati had took a look at a random page, only to gasp and blush. "Hope, they're... doing..." she handed the book back to the American. "Can I borrow that?"

Hope and Parvati then broke into a fit of giggles.

After dinner was over and there was another speech by Dumbledore, followed by the school song with was sung crazily off key and Hope could barely follow along for laughing. The odd headmaster then sent everyone off to bed and the first years followed Percy to their dorms. They were all yawning, tired from the huge amounts of food they had consumed only to stop when a bundle of walking sticks floated past them. Percy took a steps forward and the sticks then threw themselves at him

"PEEVES!" Percy growled and turned to the first years. "He's a poltergeist..." He then turned forward "Show yourself, Peeves! Or I'll go straight to the Baron!"

There was a pop and a little man in a beanie cap with dark eyes and a wide mouth bobbed over the first years heads.

"Ooh, ickle firsties! Fun, fun!" Peeves cheered.

He swooped at them and they all ducked.

"Peeves, I'm warning you! I'll go to the Baron right now!" Percy hissed.

Peeves blew another raspberry and dropped the walking sticks on Neville's head, then swooped down behind Hope. There was an awful chill in the middle of her back then-

**SNAP!**

"AHHHH!" She arched in shock and slight pain then whirled on the spot. "You beanie-wearing son of a-"

"Oooh! Angry, ickle firstie girl!" Peeves cackled as he swooped off.

"He snapped my bra!" Hope shrieked, rubbing her stinging back.

"You'll want to watch out for Peeves," Percy explained. "He doesn't even listen to us prefects. The Bloody Baron, that's the Slytherin ghost, is the only one who can control him."

Hope grumbled under her breath as they finally made their way to the end of a corridor where a portrait of a fat woman in a pink dress sat.

"Password?" she asked and Hope's brows rose. She had thought the portraits were speaking as she made her way up here but wasn't sure.

"Capus Draconis," Percy said and the portrait swung open to reveal a hole that they had to enter to get into the Gryfffindor common room. It was a large room with burgundy, red, and gold decor. There were many squashy armchairs, couches and love seats and a roaring fireplace dominated one of the walls. Hope would've love to park in front of it under other circumstances but right now she just wanted to sleep.

Percy directed everyone to their dormitories and Hope, along with Hermione, Parvati, Lavender and Fey, entered a room with a sign that read "First Year Girls" and entered to find five luxurious four poster beds hung with deep pink and red velvet curtains. Their trunks had been brought up and Hope found her blue case with its Sailor Moon stickers sitting by her bed.

Everyone else had passed out upon hitting the sheets but she had enough energy to write a letter. She pulled a piece of paper from her notebook and her ink pen. She knew she would have to get used to writing with feathers in class but she was going to use a pen to write to her aunt.

_Dear Auntie Bex_

_So, the train ride was fine except there was this group of girls being mean to the twins who we met today. This dog-faced girl named Pansy. UGH! But omg, Auntie! The school is amazing! There are ghosts and I can see them! Everyone can, ours is this guy named Sir Nicholas but we call him Nearly Headless Nick because he was decapitated but not all the way. He touched my shoulder and its was like I that time I fell in Lake Michigan when it was frozen. Talk about cold! And there was magic food, it just appeared! The ceiling looks like the sky and candles float. It is just epic! Oh, by the way. I'm Professor McGonangall's house Gryffindor. Everyone is really nice and I'm rooming with one of the twins, Parvati. Her sister was sorted into Ravenclaw. There are four houses like Professor McGonangall said. I'm in the house the brave and noble. Ravenclaw is like full of brainiacs. Hufflepuff is full of well, I guess dummies but that sounds mean because they are nice (And there is the CUTEST boy in Hufflepuff but he's older. I think his name is Cedric.)Slytherin is full of DOUCHE BAGS with a capital D. That's where the dog-faced girl and her pack ended up. That kid we saw in the owl shop, he's a prefect in my house. His name is Percy Weasley. His little brother is in my year and he has other brothers, twins that are two years ahead of me. They are the biggest goofballs! I'm rooming with Parvati, and this girl named Lavender and this IRRITATING know-it-all motor-mouth named Hermionie. She's from a human family, her parents are dentists. You'd think I'd want to talk to her because we have stuff in common but ugh, she's all bossy and tries to tell everyone what they should and shouldn't be doing. I already know I'm going to hurt her feelings before the week is out. I did it already on the train and I'm not apologizing. I miss my iPod, then I could drown her out. Oh, there's also this kid who is like a celebrity. Something about he survived against a dark wizard when everyone else who ever faced him died. Everyone keeps gawking at him, it's so weird. But, I talked to him a bit at dinner. He's nice and a little shy. I think I get my schedule tomorrow and I'll let you know how that goes. I have to pretend I'm asleep. Know-it-all is talking again. _

_Love, Hope._

_P.S. I finally figured out what I'm going to name my owl. I'm going to call him Niklaus. _

**Okay, if anyone is wondering why Hope is such a hot-head... just remember her bloodline... werewolves and how Tyler Lockwood was when he wasn't activated as a wolf. Also, I know this chapter was sort of a downer but I wanted her to meet people, make friends as well as enemies. Oh, I've wanted Pansy to get hers for her bitchiness towards, well, everyone throughout the series so I may have had a little fun with Hope referring to her as a pug with no-craps-given. ;)**

**Okay, let me explain Rebekah's over enthusiasm. I would figure a nice amount of witches would be wary to help her with this considering how witches view vampires. Not to mention the fact that this is about her niece and not some random whim of hers.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I thank everyone for the kind reviews, favorites and follows. However, my ire was pulled up as I read a few. All I have to say is this and if I lose readers oh well. I'm an artist and like all artists I am sensitive about my shit. It is a big internet, if you don't like things, go find something else. Pointing out grammatical and spelling errors is one thing as well as out of characterness. I'm cool with that. But to go on saying my plot is boring without knowing where I'm taking it and calling my ideas cliche and then pushing for where you want things to go... Yeah, no. Sorry you wasted both of our time.  
**

**Okay, rant over. On to the story. This part takes place right when everyone was loading the Hogwarts express during Prisoner of Azkaban.**

_Two Years Later_

"Aunt Bex, c'mon!"

"No..."

"Please..."

"No."

Thirteen year old Hope huffed in annoyance as she dipped her quill in her ink bottle and returned back to her parchment. "Why not?"

Rebekah calmly flipped the channels, stopping on a news program. "Because you're to write that essay with a quill and ink, so no. I'm not giving you a pen."

"Urgh!"

"Don't 'urgh' me. Besides, it'll do you some good to learn how we did things back then."

"I learned in first grade that people used quills..."

"Yes, and now you get to experience it first hand. I don't understand why you're having so much trouble. You've been using a quill for two years now."

The news program switched from a story about soccer to a a report on an escaped convict. Hope glanced up at the TV to see them showing a picture of a pale, gaunt man with matted, elbow-length hair. "_The public is warned that Black is armed and extremely dangerous. A special hot line has been set up, and any sighting of Black should be reported immediately."_

Rebekah turned off the TV. Obviously a muggle killer was not much of a concern to her as an Original Vampire.

"I've been getting zits for two years now, too. Doesn't mean I have to like it..." Hope grumbled, bringing the conversation back to the earlier topic. "And why am I getting zits anyway, I thought vampire blood fixed everything."

"Not everything," Rebekah said absently as she flipped through a book. "It doesn't cure cancer. In fact it turns out accelerates cancer cell growth."

Hope's head raised and her eyes popped at that. "Wait, really?"

"Oh yes. If I had to hazard a guess it's because cancer is natural, however horrible."

"Wow..." Hope went back to her essay on Medieval Witch Hunts and her History of Magic textbook. "Does it cure period cramps? Just so I know for when it finally happens?" Hope had already turned thirteen and she still hadn't gotten her first period. It was getting a little annoying.

"Nope. Afraid you'll have to suck that up too..."

"Hooray..." Hope grumbled. "Can I have a pen now?"

"No."

"Urgh! Well, can you tell me about the Witch Hunts?"

"Which ones?"

"Any of them. Did you know that in medieval times, they caught a witch who used a Flame Freeze charm, so that if you were set on fire it didn't hurt you. It just caused a tickling sensation and this one witch had so much fun that she let herself get caught over and over just so she could enjoy the tickles..."

Rebekah paused in her reading. "Yeah, that's just weird..."

"Her name's Wendelin the Weird, actually."

"Fitting... But..."

Rebekah got up from her seat, disappeared into a basement and came back with an old book. She then set it in front of Hope with a thud. "Use that as a reference."

Hope picked up the book and her brow arched. "_Malleus Maleficarum" _

"What's this?"

"It translates into Witch's Hammer. It was written in the 1450s and was a guide a bunch of dogmatic, power hungry idiots used to persecute accused witches. And as for witchcraft in America, those girls from Salem were innocent. Granted, I wasn't there then. I was in Europe. Though, from what I understand it was just a bunch of Puritanettes who were bored, jealous and decided to start a riot..."

"Did anything ever happen in New Orleans?" Hope asked.

Rebekah paused in her reading. Celeste DuBois flashed through her mind. How Klaus was responsible for her death only because of his jealousies and boredom and what that inevitably sparked for decades to come.

He might as well had been Ann Putnam Jr. _I saw Goody Osborn with the Devil. _Look where that landed that little bitch.

"Aunt Bex?" Hope's concerned voice reached her ears. "You okay? You look mad?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart," she was spared an explanation when the sound of tapping at the kitchen window caught their attention.

Hope scurried over to the window, smiling at the barn owl who had a letter attached in its claws. It was her Hogwarts letter! It said the usual spiel. She was to be at King's Cross on the first of September. There was also the list of books that included her new subjects: Care of Magical Creatures, Study of Ancient Runes, and Divination. However the most interesting thing she found in the envelope was a permission slip.

"Hey... favorite Auntie Bex with the beautiful blonde hair..."

Now Rebekah smiled. "What do you want, you suck up?"

Hope slid the form in front of her and fluttered her lashes, hands clasped in front of her. "Please, please, please! Third years get to go to Hogsmeade Village on some weekends. I think that's where a lot of shops are... I'll bring you something nice!"

Rebekah rolled her eyes but signed the form. "Fine... I suspect even you'd get bored locked in a castle for nine months on end. Have fun. And don't even _think_ of sending me any more of those dratted beans!"

Hope snickered and went back to her essay. Watching Aunt Bex gag on an earwax flavored bean had been hilarious!

"And study that Runes book once you're done with that essay. And write me a chart of the planets. They're named for Roman gods, I want this chart to consist of their Norse counterparts..."

Hope let out another exasperated sigh. She had chosen Ancient Runes as an elective at the end of her second year. Her aunt had told Hope that her father, Klaus, was born of Vikings and she wanted to know more about them. It was weird to think she was the modern daughter of an ancient people. But, once she had told Rebekah she was taking the subject and wanted a bit of help (if only to trounce all over Hermione Granger for once) the vampire had sat her down and forced her to learn them as well as do weird multicultural charts once a week. She had barely had any fun this summer. And it was beginning to grate. Though if she were honest with herself, a lot of things were pissing her off lately.

"Can I have a pen?"

"No!"

Hope scowled.

* * *

It was a few weeks later during their usual shopping trip around London that Rebekah and Hope had gone to Diagon Alley to pick up the girl's new books. Upon entering the Leaky Cauldron Rebekah turned off her cell phone while Hope did the same with her own, pocketing her headphones. One thing she did not like about the magical world was magical interference. Her iPod during History of Magic class would have saved her a world of heartache and boredom. Ah well. That's what the many muggle books she had purchased earlier were for.

And was it her imagination or did Aunt Bex actually buy Fifty Shades of Grey?

Hope, biting back giggles the entire time, took out her wand and tapped the bricks so that they gave way to reveal Diagon Alley. They stepped into the alley as the bricks shut behind them.

"Can I grab ice cream?" Hope asked.

"Go on, I'll be exchanging the money," Rebekah said as she made her way to Gringotts.

Hope headed to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, already salivating at the thought of a treat. She bought herself a chocolate and butterscotch sundae with an unholy amount of hazelnuts. She turned to find herself a spot to sit and stopped cold at what she saw.

Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson of Slytherin house were seated at one of the small tables inside the shoppe, sharing a large banana split. Pansy dipped her spoon, scooped up a hefty amount of strawberry ice cream, and actually fed it to the blonde boy. Her other hand was holding his. They were so absorbed in each other that they didn't notice her. Hope was all too glad of that.

Taking her sundae she skittered out of the shoppe, lips clamped shut to keep from cackling. Once she was outside and a few buildings away she let out a loud laugh. "Oh, my God! Eww!" She glanced around for her aunt, wanting to tell her the revolting sight she had just seen but remembered she was in the bank where the lines were usually long during this time of year.

"Hope! Hey, Hope!"

Hope turned around to see Harry Potter along with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger coming from the magical creatures shop where Hope had purchased her owl two years ago. Ron looked annoyed and was cradling something in his pocket, more than likely his pet rat and Hermione was busy snuggling the ugliest orange cat Hope had ever seen in her life. And said cat was now staring very hard at Hope, its yellow eyes narrowed.

"Hi, guys," Hope greeted as she ate her melting ice cream.

"Did you get your books yet?" Harry asked her.

She noticed the Gryffindor wunderkind had grown a bit over the summer. Last year he was as tall as her, now he was a bit taller. The two got along well enough but didn't really talk much. She had, amusingly during their first year, somehow established herself as Gryffindor Quidditch team's unofficial cheerleader. It never ceased to amuse the other students when she did Hammer Time in the stands and nearly fell over the edge. And she had a feeling he particularly enjoyed it when she put Pansy in her place from time to time.

"My aunt's in Gringotts' now," she said.

"Be sure to be careful when you get the Care of Magical Creatures book,"Ron warned her.

She and Ron got on well enough though they didn't talk very much. However, there was an incident where she had punched one of Malfoy's cronies, in the face last year, and Ron had applauded her when she entered Gryffindor Tower after she had served her detention. She didn't know why she got the detention! That pig was the one who cast a hex to make her shirt nearly fly open...

"Ehh?"

"You'll see."

Hope shrugged it off, going back to her ice cream.

"Did you take that glass from the shoppe?" Hermione asked in a slightly disapproving voice.

Ever since their first meeting on the train Hope and Hermione barely got along. They only tolerated each other as they were both Gryffindors and had to share a dorm. Though Hermione found Hope to be loud, rude and combative while Hope considered the bushy haired girl to be an annoying, bossy know-it-all. The only thing they had in common was a mutual hatred of Pansy Parkinson.

"I'll put it back... It was just nauseating in there... I had to run."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked. "We were just in there not long ago."

"Oh! You didn't see that horror show?" Hope asked and motioned for the group to follow her. "Guess who's a couple now?" She then pointed to the window of the Ice Cream Parlor at the Slytherin couple still seated. The banana split was long gone and the two were now, to the Gryffindor's disgust, making out over the table.

"Urgh!" Ron shivered.

"When did _that_ happen?" Hermione asked with a slightly disturbed look on her face.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." Harry gagged and the group moved away as Hope set her empty parfait glass on one of the outside tables.

"That's how I felt..." Hope said with an exaggerated shiver. Though she was a bit annoyed. How did pug-faced Parkinson get a boyfriend before her? There was a disturbance in the Force.

"Well, we're headed back to the Leaky Cauldron," Hermione said

"To vomit," Harry added and Hope snickered

"See you, Hope," Ron waved. "And brace yourself. Percy's Head Boy."

Hope bit back a snicker as she waved back. Percy Pompus Weasley was now '_Head_ Boy.' So many dirty jokes... So little time!

and the trio left just as Rebekah had exited the bank with a sack full of wizard money.

"All right, now where to first?" the vampire asked once she reached her niece.

"Flourish and Botts. I want to get the books out of the way."

Everywhere they passed, Hope saw WANTED posters of a man that looked oddly familiar though she couldn't place where she had seen him. But, that was put out of her mind when went to the bookstore to get her supplies. The manager had rushed up to the two of them.

"Hogwarts?" he asked abruptly. "Here to get your new books?"

"Yes..." Hope began. "I need-"

"Get out of the way," the man said, moving Hope and Rebekah aside. Rebekah was about to snap at the man's rudeness but stopped when she saw a large iron cage full of _The Monster Book of Monsters_. Torn pages flew everywhere as the books grappled with each other, growling and snapping.

So that's what Ron meant...

The man put on a pair of thick gloves and grabbed one of the books, wincing when one bit him. He quickly tossed it into the bag where it went still after a few moments, panting slightly. "Is there anything else you need?" the man asked, nursing his slightly bleeding hand.

Rebekah just blinked at the book. "Well, Hope, your third year won't be boring." She then took the book list to get Hope's other supplied.

Hope stayed behind and looked at the cage full of books. She had a sinking feeling.

"Hi, Hope," a girl's voice called and she turned to see a small redhead holding the ever familiar second year books that also looked second hand.

"Hi, Ginny." Hope never traded many words with the girl. She just knew she was the last and the only girl in a slew of boys. Plus, she was a central part of that whole basilisk drama that had happened last year. That was an incident she had made certain to keep from her Aunt Bex. She didn't really need to know that there was a giant monster that had been targeting students. Hope remembered when Hermione had been petrified and she found herself wondering if the monster would come after her since she was part werewolf.

At that moment Percy Weasley stepped forward and extended his hand to Hope as if he had never met her. "Hello Hope. How nice to see you."

Hope's brows rose and she shook his hand, deciding to humor him. "Hello, Percy..."

"I hope you are well?" asked Percy as Ginny bit back giggles at the look on Hope's face.

"Um, yeah... Thanks..."

"Hope, who are your friends?" Rebekah asked, shopping bag in hand. She had just finished paying for Hope's books.

"Oh, this is Ginny and Percy Weasley," Hope said. "Guys, this is my Aunt Rebekah."

Ginny politely introduced herself while Percy went red in the face at the sight of Rebekah and held out his hand. "H-how do you do?"

Now Ginny was really giggling and Rebekah looked as if she were trying to hold back laughs. "Nice to meet you both."

"Percy here is _Head_ Boy," Hope said, unable to contain herself.

Rebekah now bit her tongue as well as gave Hope a small kick to the ankle. "Really? Well, congratulations. That's very impressive."

Percy now puffed himself up so that the Head Boy badge was showing. Rebekah fought hard not to roll her eyes.

"Aunt Bex, we need to go to the Apothecary," Hope said quickly. She had seen enough weird shit for today.

"Hey, is that Penelope Clearwater?" Ginny also said suddenly and Percy let go of Rebekah's hand as if burned. Hope glanced behind her and saw no one.

_Oh, Ginny, you're good. _

"It was lovely to meet you," Percy said stiffly. "But, my sister and I must go and find our mother and brothers. Come along, Ginny."

"You as well..." Rebekah said and the two left the shop only to dissolve into giggles once they crossed the street. "Wow!"

"I told you he was a piece of work," Hope said as she wiped tears of laughter.

* * *

_September 1st._

"So, who the hell is this Lockhart?"

Rebekah now walked through platform nine and three quarters with Hope at her side. The girl had been telling her about her last year. Normally Hope did not talk much about school and Rebekah had a feeling it was because she got into more trouble than she should. There had been many times when Rebekah had gotten a letter from the school claiming that Hope had gotten into a fight. But those were just the fights the teachers _knew_ about. Hope normally would come home during the summer, tell her about the things she learned and her war with the Parkinson girl but other than that there wasn't much to tell. However, now there was a tale of a teacher who had been nothing but a giant poser. He had written books, claiming that he had done all of these magnificent things. Rebekah remembered seeing the picture of him on the cover of the book when they had purchased them for Hope's second year and thought most of them sounded like bullshit from the covers anyway. (Seriously? _Travels with Trolls_?) The only thing worth looking at was Gilderoy himself, whom Rebekah had to admit, was rather easy on the eyes.

"Well, he was this really..." Hope paused and her face took on a dazed look "..._really_ good looking wizard..." She even let out a wistful sigh. Rebekah never heard Hope sigh like that. It was eerie.

"And he wrote all of these books about doing all of these epic things..." She had paused in putting her things in the luggage compartment to sigh and Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"Hope, load up and fangirl later. Finish telling the story."

Hope's cheeks pinked up but she caught herself. "Oh right, well-"

"Hope!"

Both looked up to see Hope's two best friends, Parvati and Padma Patil coming up with a blond girl Rebekah vaguely remembered to be Lavender Brown. Two boys, one tall and black and the other with sandy brown hair had come up as well.

"Hi guys," Hope greeted as she shoved the last of her luggage onto the train. "This is my aunt Rebekah..."

Rebekah gave an amused smile when she saw the thirteen year old boys goggling at her while the girls barely suppressed the urge to roll their eyes. "Hello."

"Hi..." they both said, same dumbstruck looks on their faces.

Hope introduced the two boys as Seamus and Dean before returning back to her story about Gilderoy Lockhart. Now, the boys had a good laugh at it while the girls looked a bit put out that such a hot teacher had left them.

"So, let me get this straight?" Rebekah asked in amusement. "He was basically famous for doing nothing?"

"Pretty much," Dean grinned.

"Like a Kardashian," Hope cracked and she and Dean laughed while Lavender looked confused.

"What's a Kardashian?" Lavender asked.

"Exactly," Hope smirked while Dean sniggered. The rest of the kids just looked lost. Soon, the train conductor announced that it was time for parents to leave the train and she lead Rebekah back to the platform to say goodbye to her. There were the usual hugs but no tears this time from the vampire. Then she turned to board.

"Though..." Hope began, continuing the conversation as she boarded the train with her friends. "To be fair, she actually did get famous doing something."

"What was that?" Parvati asked and Hope dropped her voice in case of adults. However, Rebekah's hearing picked it up. "Really crappy sex tape..."

Dean cracked up at the scandalized looks on the girl's faces while Seamus covered his mouth.

"Excuse me?" Rebekah cleared her throat with an arched brow as the children froze, "Just what do you know of the tape, Hope?"

Now Hope's eyes widened and she flushed scarlet. She then rushed up onto the train. "Oh man, look at the time, I need to be on the train! Bye Auntie Bex!"

"We'll discuss this when you get home!" Rebekah called after her.

"Love you!" Hope called from the compartment window.

Rebekah only gave her a stern scowl as the train started to move a bit. She then moved out of the way as none other than Harry Potter rushed forward onto one of the compartment. He was going to miss the train! He had been dawdling, talking urgently to a redheaded man. Luckily he had caught up to the compartment that held Ron, Hermione and the other Weasley siblings.

The train picked up speed and Hope waved as they pulled away from Platform 9 3/4. Once it turned the corner, she turned to her train companions.

"Ugh, another nine months without music..."

"We have the Wireless Wizarding Network," Parvati said.

"I know... but sometimes a girl just wants to listen to Britney Spears..."

Dean gave an exaggerated shiver as he and Seamus made themselves comfortable. She gave him a scowl and the two then got into a heated debate about the best muggle music. That lasted for the better part of a half hour before the two boys left to see who else they could find.

"Oh! I didn't tell you the horrible thing I saw at Diagon Alley when I went to get my books..." Hope said to the girls and then told them about the awful sighting of Malfoy and Parkinson feeding each other and making out.

"Ew!" Padma groaned. "How the Hell did that pug get a boyfriend before any of us?"

"Right?!" Parvati said, shaking her head.

"Dark magic," Lavender nodded. "Has to be... probably a love potion."

"I say Malfoy lost a bet..." Hope said and then launched into other subjects.

It was well into the train ride and Hope was currently trying to convince her friends to visit her for once, if for nothing else but to shock them with technology and the Internet. Lavender looked wide-eyed as she explained about the Internet and Padma and Parvati were interested as well.

"Oh my God, you've got to convince your parents to hang at my house during the summer! Or Christmas. I can show you stuff on the internet like the tapes. And wait till you see Ray Jay sing during Kardashian's..."

"What's a Ray Jay? Some sort of bird?" Lavender asked and there was a thud as Hope fell from her seat, doubled over in laughter.

"Hey, are we slowing down?" Padma asked suddenly.

Hope got up and looked out the window, finding she could barely see anything. It was raining hard and outside was completely dark. She had been so wrapped up in her conversation that she hadn't noticed the weather. The lights had came on inside of the train and she could hear the sound of the pistons fading. Getting up, she poked her head out of the compartment, seeing others along the carriage do the same. She saw a flash of glasses which belonged to Harry Potter and she opened her mouth to ask what was going on. But the words never left her mouth, the train had come to a screeching halt, forcing her to hang onto the door to keep from falling. Then all of the train lamps went out and not a thing could be seen.

"Hope?" Lavender asked shakily. "What's going on?"

"No clue." There were sounds of people colliding with each other. She could make out Hermione and Ginny Weasley's voices and Hope stepped out as well. She walked forward, feeling along the walls with one hand and in front of her with the other. Her finger tips connected with someone's face and she drew her hand back but not before she felt a pair of very soft lips. "Oh, shit! I'm sorry..."

"Hope, d'you kiss your family with that mouth? And I know its dark and I'm irresistible, but do try to keep your hands to yourself" a cheeky voice said. She knew that voice.

"Shut up, Fred... or George. What's going on?" She took a small step only to move back when the boy winced in pain. She had gotten his foot. "Sorry!"

"Not a problem..." the boy grunted. "And I was just about to ask you the same thing. Have you seen my sister? She's not in our compartment."

"She went towards the back, I think..." Hope told him.

"It looks like people are coming aboard," Lavender called from her train compartment.

There was a swooping noise in the dark that came from the front of the train. She felt the older boy's hand on her shoulder. "You should probably get back into your compartment..." he told her. His hand moved to the small of her back to help her back to the compartment.

There was a sound of something swooping past her the moment she entered the compartment and then it was as all the warmth was vacuumed from the train.

Hope let out a small gasp, hands wrapping around herself in a futile attempt to keep warm. Her skin suddenly felt as if it were made of thin ice, her flesh, organs and bones icicles and snow. Everything inside of her that was good and happy died.

Joy was nonexistent; life had no purpose. A razor to the wrist in a warm bath would probably be the best thing for her. What was the point anyway? Her back collided into the wall and she let out a frail whimper.

Next to her she made out the sound of the Weasley twin letting out a shuddering gasp as well. There was a small light from a wand and Parvati, illuminated, gasped and fell back. From the small light Hope could make out a sweeping cloaked figure, looking all the world like a Grim Reaper with its face covered, except that instead of bones, its hand was scabby and had the look of decaying flesh.

She slumped down the wall, the weight of her own despair crushing her. Tears leaked out of her eyes, her face fell into her hands and she sobbed. She should end it all. It wouldn't matter in the long run. She was going to die anyway. People wanted her dead. Her family didn't want her. They wouldn't have sent her to England if that were the case. Why did she think she could be any use to her family? Her own grandmother wanted her dead.

Then she heard a voice, low and hoarse, speaking. "None of us are holding Sirius Black. Leave here." It stayed were it was and then there was a low mutter, followed by a silver flash and the thing left the train.

The lights came back on and Hope moved her hands from her face, slowly. It seemed the Weasley next to her was the first to recover. He glanced over at the younger Gryffindor and stooped down to help her to her feet. Her face was wet with tears and she was shaking. "Hey, Hope. C'mon it's gone now."

It sounded as if his voice came from the end of a long tunnel. She finally focused on him, flaming hair and freckles coming into her vision. The despair receded from her and she took a shuddering gasp. "Holy crap..." Hope whimpered.

What was that? What the Hell was that? She had wanted to die! She wanted to kill herself! Did it do crap like that to everyone? She looked at the Weasley twin who seemed shaken and pale but not a royal mess like her. She still felt dregs of whatever that thing had done to her and the tears welled up again.

"Hey..." a strong arm wrapped itself around her and she looked to see the older boy. "It's all right, it's gone now."

Hope had to fight hard to squash the urge to bury her face in his shoulder and sob like a ten year old. Instead she just turned to him, sniffling. "What was that thing?" she asked as she stepped back into the hall to get herself together before her friends saw her.

"A dementor," the hoarse voice from before said.

Hope looked up to see the only adult she had ever seen on the train, other than the food trolly lady. He had brown hair that was tipped with gray though he seemed young. He handed her a piece of chocolate. "Eat it, it'll help."

Hope ate the chocolate and was surprised when she felt much better, warmth now fully returning to her.

"Thanks," Hope looked up at him and blinked. There was something about him but she couldn't put her finger on it. And it wasn't the shabby robes he was wearing. It was a strange feeling, like deja vu. Had they met before? She opened her mouth to speak but but he had already left towards the front of the train.

As she ate the chocolate she felt much better, until soon nothing but rage remained. If there was one thing she hated was looking like a fool. And there she was with her face covered in tears and she was certain she'd gotten to the snot stage of her crying as well. So, she did what she always did when she felt awkward: make a totally unladylike joke.

"Wow, I get all weepy and whiny with the sad-girl tears and then someone hands me chocolate and like a chick on her rag who just got dumped I feel all better. Cliche, thy name is Hope."

The redheaded boy next to her gave a startled little laugh. "Don't worry about it. Those things are horrible. My dad told me about them. They guard Azkaban. Suck the happiness out of the place and drive the prisoners mad."

"Damn..." she muttered. "That is the suckiest thing ever..." she then turned to the boy. "Oh, thanks..." she paused trying to figure out which one he was. "Fred?"

"George."

"Oh."

He turned to head down the train, probably to check on his family. She went to go into her compartment but stopped when he turned around and grinned. "Just kidding. I'm Fred."

Hope huffed but smiled, feeling her cheeks heat up faster than the rest of her body when he smiled at her. When did Fred Weasley get so cute? Was he always that cute? He then turned and left . Hope wiped her face on her sleeve and went her back into her compartment and almost ran into Parvati.

"Hope! We heard you crying. Are you all right?"

Hope fidgeted, not wanting to get into how emo that creepy thing had made her. "Yeah, I'm good... it just had me messed up for a bit." She looked down at their fallen bags. The hard stop had made everything topple over. She noticed some spilled chocolate frogs and handed them to everyone.

"Eat these," she told them. "The guy at the back of the train gave me chocolate and it really helped." She pocketed one and made a note to give it to Fred since he was nice enough to stick with her.

Her friends looked at her as if she were bonkers but ate the chocolate frogs anyway. After a while they all looked marginally better.

"Dementors..." Lavender shuddered. "My parents told me about them when that man, Sirius Black, escaped. They're awful!"

Hope remembered hearing the name during the summer, an escaped convict and she had also seen pictures of him in Diagon Alley. And now that she thought on it, that was the man that she had seen on the muggle news. However, it didn't really register with her, his escape. She lived with an Original Vampire. Her aunt was way scarier. But those things freaked her out way worse.

"Is everyone all right?"

The girls looked up to see Neville Longbottom, pale and eating a piece of a chocolate square. "I heard sobbing..."

Hope huffed with embarrassment and took an angry bite from her frog. "I'm fine... it just freaked me out."

Neville gave her a sympathetic look that she wanted to slap off of his face. This was getting irritating. "They scared everyone, Hope. Harry fainted because of one."

Hope's brows rose and the girls in her compartment gasped. Was it bad that she felt better that she had at least remained conscious while the wunderkind passed out?

_Wow, now I feel like a dick..._

Neville left and the train continued on its journey. No one really felt much like talking. Finally the train made it to Hogsmeade Station. Eager to get off the train as if it were haunted, Hope grabbed her things and scrambled off. Niklaus hooted at her in what seemed like mild concern. After two years he finally had begun to warm up to her, though he loved to torture her aunt. How many times had he come back from a hunt and take a dump or drop a dead rat on Rebekah's clothes or in her shoes, just because he could?

Rain battered the small platform, freezing them to the bone. They made it into the carriages that were being pulled by some invisible animal. Squeezing closely to Parvati due to the cold air. She looked out the window and noticed Harry with his normal group of friends, looking a bit pale and tired and fearful. Shame soaked her chest and stomach at the thought that she was glad she hadn't passed out as he did. The poor kid looked like a hot mess!

"I can't believe he fainted... He faced You-Know-Who but those things had him fainting?" Lavender whispered.

"Well, no one is really immune to those things." Padma offered.

They made it through the gates of the school and passed the columns and statues. Two more dementors stood guard and she fought the massive urge to curl up and cry some more. Once the carriage came to a stop, she and the others left the carriage. Once inside they were inside of the castle, she heard a sneering voice right by her ear.

"So, Mitchell, you were crying and sobbing like a little bitch?"

Pansy. Of course.

Hope bristled and Parvati grabbed her shoulder to keep her from swinging on the Slytherin.

"Oh, well maybe she could cuddle up with Potter though I doubt it would do any good considering he fainted," a boy spoke this time. Draco Malfoy. Wonderful.

"Shut it, Malfoy," she heard Ron hiss from behind her. She chanced a glance and saw Harry red-faced with rage and embarrassment. She also noticed George and (her heart jerked a bit) Fred making their way towards them, ready to rip Malfoy a new one. She didn't need them standing up for her! She could do that herself. And there was a small part of her that hoped Fred would be impressed by what she was about to do.

So with a dramatic sigh, she just craned back but kept walking, speaking so that the two Slytherins and hopefully the other Gryffindors would hear her.

"Well, see Parkinson, I don't know what it did but all I saw in my head was your face," Hope began, totally calm. There were shocked snickers around her as Pansy bristled. Hope continued "Even when I closed my eyes. It was all awful and stuff, I mean, y'know. I'm sure you own a mirror. So yeah, that just had me all messed up so I lost my cool a bit. Though I might need therapy after seeing that awful shit... Honestly, Malfoy, I don't know how you stand it. You must have a stomach made of iron."

Parvati bit her lip to keep from dying of laughter and Padma had her face buried into her sister's shoulder. Hope's belly did another happy dance when she saw Fred and George looking delightedly shocked. Pansy's face turned tomato red and Malfoy gave her a glare that would have withered a weaker woman.

"Watch your mouth, you stupid whore."

Hope never even blinked. "Don't call me any of your mother's pet names."

Draco's face turned a violent shade of purple while while Harry's broke into a big grin along with Ron's. Hermione looked shocked but she seemed torn between being scandalized and wanting to laugh as well. After all the one thing all Gryffindor girls had in common was their hatred of Parkinson and Draco by extent.

"You'll pay for that..."

"Okie doke."

No more words were said when they made it into the Great Hall though she caught Fred and George giving her thumbs up and she felt a blush flare to her cheeks. Apparently Paravti noticed because she was giving Lavender an elbow to the side, gesturing between her and the twins. Hope barely had time to roll her eyes when she heard a voice call.

"Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!"

The two in question went over to her and Hope noticed the witch raise a questioning eyebrow toward Hope. The girl flushed but shook her head in the negative, knowing what the question was. And it was getting a bit annoying. She was thirteen for heaven's sake. How long until her lady-parts started bleeding? Maybe it was a werewolf/vampire thing that made her not have one or get one late? Maybe not all girls got them at the same time? She would ask the girls when they got to their dorms as well as owl her aunt.

The girls went to sit down at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table when Parvati veered off and sat in a different spot. Lavender seemed to catch on to something because she was sporting a sly grin and tugged Hope along. It wasn't until Lavender tugged Hope to sit that she realized she was sitting right next to Fred Weasley.

_Oh crap!_

The boy did not notice her, he was conversing with other members of the Gryffindor team as well as their friend Lee Jordan. She wondered if she should say something only to chicken out. It was Dean who finally spoke to her.

"Heard the dementors gave you quite a fright." Hope felt the familiar ire rise.

"I'm fine..."

"Yeah, they just showed her Parkinson's face over and over... Anyone would be a mess after that!" Fred had broken away from his talk with his friends, giving Hope a friendly pat on the back.

"Oh you poor thing! You need seven chocolate frogs after that!" a girl Hope knew as Katie Bell smirked.

"You missed the way Hope handled Parkinson and Malfoy on the way here. Brilliant!" George chimed and told everyone at the table about what she had said to the two most irritating Slytherin third years. It seemed the whole Gryffindor team hated Malfoy due to his dad buying his spot on the Slytherin team last year.

"Oh, you should have heard what she said to her our first year on the train!" Lavender piped up and Hope ducked down, face burning but not unpleasantly. "She told her that Hogwarts lied to her in the letter because we could have owls, cats and toads but not pugs!"

The boys howled with laughter. "Yes! I love it!"

Hope barely missed Parvati exchange a strange 'Wonder Twin' conversation with Padma who was at the Ravenclaw table. It took all of a second but Parvati rapid-eye glanced from Hope to Fred. Padma smirked and got up, heading to the Gryffindor table but not sitting down.

"Parvati, remember Hope was saying we should come to her home to see muggle technology. We should make a point to as our parents if we can go by there during the Christmas or Easter holidays, just for a day. I am curious about the Internet."

Fred perked up at the mention of Muggle technology. "Dad might even overlook everything we do from here on out if we got to see Muggle technology..."

Ron gave a puzzled look from across the table. "Fred, if we really wanted to see Muggle stuff we could just go to Hermione's house."

"Or mine." Dean added

Parvati was far too polite of a girl to say it but the look that she gave Ron and Dean clearly said "You idiots!"

That dementor must've scrambled Hope's brain because she was just now figuring out that Parvati and Lavender were trying to play wingman for her with Fred.

Luckily Hope was saved from adding anything once Hermione and Harry came to the table. And right when they sat down Dumbledore had rose to speak. He spoke of the dementors, who were there on Ministry business and spoke of their horrifying nature and that no one was to leave the school. He then announced that Professor Lupin was the new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher.

When the man who had given her the chocolate and got rid of the dementor stood up she, along with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny Weasley clapped hard. She smiled broadly at him and when his eyes met hers she stopped, that strange feeling like she knew him coming over her. The feeling was so strange and intense that she barely heard the Professor's other announcement but noticed it must've been a big one as the whole Gryffindor table rose in applause. She blinked, feeling stupid and turned to Fred.

"I spaced out. What happened?"

"Hagrid's the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher!" he told her, still clapping.

Hope's eyes widened and she got to her feet, clapping with the rest of the students. Now that screwed up book that tried to bite off her hand made sense! She looked over and notice Hermione, Ron and Harry seemed extremely pleased by the news. The three of them were rather close to the giant man. She did not have that much interaction with him during her first two years but he always had a kind smile for her. Although considering the book they had for the class, Hope was a bit apprehensive.

After the announcements were over, Dumbledore announced the feast and her stomach let out a loud rumble. Like a ravenous hound, she tore into her food. Mind numbing despair made a girl hungry. As she scarfed to her heart's content, she noticed Harry doing the same thing. He sat across from her next to Ron, looking much better now that he had some food in him.

As if realizing he was being watched the boy looked up, face flushing at having the brunette looking at him. She could tell it wasn't the flush of 'Oh God, a cute girl is looking at me' but more of 'Damn it, I wish people would cut it out because of the dementors!'

She gave a teasing smile. "Hey, don't worry about it... If the dementors had you seeing Pansy over and over again like they did me, I'd faint too... I think the only reason I didn't was because I was all toked up on caffeine."

Harry looked at her as if he couldn't understand a single word she said but after a while cracked a small smile. Seeing that she was getting somewhere with cheering him up she continued, widening her eyes comically. "Oohh dude... was it Crabbe naked? That explains it!"

Harry ducked his head and she could see the unbidden snickers shaking his shoulders. Next to her a spoon clattered noisily to a plate. "Damn it, Hope! People are eating!"

Hope grinned ear to ear. "Sorry, Fred!"

Across from her, Harry laughed, happy that one person was not walking on egg shells around him. Ever since his stint with the dementors, everyone was treating him as if he were fragile. Ron and Hermione kept giving him glances as if he were going to pass out soon and the teachers were giving him wary glances and he'd barely escaped Madam Pomfrey confining him to bed rest in Professor McGonagall's. He glanced over behind him toward the Slytherin table were Malfoy was pretending to faint. He felt his temper flare up but Hope's glib tone grabbed his attention.

"Ehh, ignore that Billy Idol wannabee. He's just an attention whore. I mean, c'mon, look it his hair. What color is that? Radioactive?"

All of the Gryffindors who knew muggle terms cracked up.

"And besides, look at what he's dating. I'm sure I'd be an asshole to everyone if my girlfriend was all disgusting like Parkinson."

"Hope, you have a girlfriend?" Fred asked in a teasing voice.

Hope flushed, knowing she set herself up for that but went with it. "Of course. Parvati."

Parvati rolled her eyes and went back to her food. "When did this happen? I must've missed it."

"Wait, those two are dating?" George asked in horror, looking to the Slytherin table.

Harry, glad to have something else to talk about, told everyone of the scene in the Ice Cream Parlor and received many revolted groans in response.

"Yeah, I can't eat anymore... Ugh..." Fred groaned.

"I thought interspecies breeding was illegal..." George muttered.

Harry snickered as he bit into his treacle tart.

Once the feast was over, everyone made their way to the dorms. Harry waved goodbye to Hope and Hermione once they were inside and heading up the steps to the girls dormitories. Once he was in his own bed, he smiled, happy to be in the place that felt like home even after everything that had happened. Though when everyone was asleep, he couldn't help but stare into the darkness and wonder. Why did the dementors do that to him and not the others? Why did he faint? Who had he heard screaming in the recesses of his mind?

He shut his eyes and it all came back to him.

The cold on his skin, inside his heart. The despair. The frightened, pleading screaming...

* * *

"Girls, I gotta question. Since we're stuck with each other for another four years, get over the awkward, okay?"

Parvati had just changed into her pajamas when Hope's question reached her ears. She looked over at Lavender who had a wary look. Hermione was nose deep in her books for one of her classes while Fey Dunbar was fast asleep. Hermione absently looked up. "What is it Hope?"

"Any of you get your rags yet?" Hope asked blatantly. "Because I'm already thirteen and it hasn't happened yet and I'm getting antsy. If the parting of the Red Sea is gonna happen between my thighs monthly, I'd like to get it underway and over with."

Parvati covered her face with her pillow while Lavender's mouth dropped open. Hermione's forehead hit the pages of her book and she sighed. "Hope, why must you be so crude?"

"Was that rhetorical?" Hope asked and Hermione rolled her eyes at the other girl's glibness.

"If you must know, I've started mine over the summer. If you're really worried about it, go to Madam Pomfrey." Lavender suggested.

"It could be that you're not going to start until much later, like that girl in that book you loaned me," Parvati offered.

Hope thought for a moment. She loaned Parvati a lot of books. "_Carrie_?"

"Yes! She didn't start until much later and her mother thought she was a demon spawn because of her powers. She was a muggle born witch, correct?"

"Ehh, something like that. If you come to my house during the holidays, we'll watch the movie. It's old as heck but awesome. What part of the book did you like?"

Now Parvati blushed. "The scene between Tommy and Sue..."

"You perv," Hope smiled before continuing. "But, you think I could be like that? Not getting my period until I'm sixteen?"

"Or you might not get it ever," Hermione said without looking up from her book. "It does happen to some girls."

Hope let that thought mull through her head as the lights went out. Either way, she would speak with the school nurse on it. If she didn't get her period ever, did that mean the spell would never break? It seemed that's what everyone was waiting on until Professor McGonagall was able to redo the spell that was placed on her as a baby.

"Oh, what classes did you pick, Hope?" Lavender asked.

"Oh, I'm taking Divination with you guys, Care of Magical Creatures and I'm taking Ancient Runes." She wanted to take Runes considering her father came from actual Vikings before he was turned. During the summer her aunt Rebekah had been teaching her everything she knew of them. She cast a glance to her left and smirked at the sleeping form of Hermione. If Hermione had that class it would be epic to actually beat the know-it-all in something for once. As smart as the girl was she didn't have the assistance of an actual Viking woman. Sometimes having a thousand year old aunt was pretty damned awesome.

* * *

If Hope had been excited for her first Divination class, she was thoroughly disappointed. The batty woman, Professor Trelawney, reminded her of those phony psychics she saw on commercials back in America. After hearing Rebekah tell her stories of the witches who had given prophecies, had visions in their dreams; to see this fake California Psychic with an English accent was pretty disappointing. Not only was the trek to her class bizarre (not to mention that irritating painting of that little knight, she already forgot his name) but that class itself smelled strongly of some herb that made her eyes water and her head feel strange. And when the teacher came in, she was speaking in this wispy voice that made her wonder if there was something stronger than Myrrh burning in that incense burner and if the good professor had rolled up a joint full of it before class.

But, she sucked it up and began reading tea leaves with Hermione. Oddly enough, it seemed this was one of the few times the two agreed on something. It seemed the bushy haired girl was also noticing the weird shift because normally Hope and Hermione did not get along that well. Hope found Hermione's know-it-all ways irritating and Hermione thought Hope was a loud mouthed instigator. While the two stood up for each other when being picked on by Slytherin girls for the sake of Gryffindor solidarity, the two barely tolerated each other.

"This is absolute rubbish..." Hermione muttered as she looked through Hope's cup.

"I seriously think the only thing she's qualified to teach is what pills mixed with what booze give the best effects when you're low on opium and absinthe..."

Hermione's brows pinched and she fought a rude snicker that threatened to bubble up. "What do you know of opium and absinthe?"

"I'm a fan of Poe so I looked up what his deal was. As for the absinthe, it was mentioned on TV and I got curious..." She then glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was listening. "Plus, my aunt has a bottle stashed that she thinks I don't know about. When I got home last year, I took a shot to see if I'd see stuff like the legends say."

Hermione's mouth dropped open. "You didn't!"

"It was just a little sip. Burned like crazy. But I couldn't take too much or she'd know. It tastes like black licorice... Oh like you've never snuck a swig of beer or vodka from your parents without their knowing."

"My parents are dentists and they do not keep alcohol in the house."

Hope figured that was a lie and that her parents just either kept it hidden or Hermione was too much of a goody-goody to bother to look.

She took the cup from Hermione and looked at the leaves at the bottom. "Ehh... Okay, for the sake of pretending like I give a crap about this... You have an anchor..." She flipped through her text book for the symbolism. "Difficult to change... and a cat... difficulties with relations. So... if I had to say... you're going to do something, it's going to piss people off and you won't apologize."

Hermione just huffed irritably. "Oh please... That sounds like rubbish."

Hope scoffed. It honestly sounded like a Tuesday to her.

Hermione then picked up Hope's cup. "It looks like... a patch of cherries..."

"Ooh, a love affair!" Lavender whispered excitedly from behind them.

Unbidden, Fred Weasley's face flashed into Hope's mind and she felt herself blushing. Hermione noted this but didn't say anything, instead she kept looking through Hope's cup. "A candle... an illness or worry. And... a cross... trouble." She looked up and noted a slightly paler than before Hope and closed her book. "Oh, I bet its nothing. If there is anything to this, its more than likely you'll finally snap and punch Pansy in the face and you'll land a detention..."

"And what about the candle, the illness?" Neville asked shakily from behind them, leaning in with Parvati and Lavender.

"Well, Pansy will probably be sick when she punches her." Seamus offered.

"Or she's got mono..." Dean snickered under his breath.

"Dean! Eww!"

Unfortunately the mirth of the class was broken when Trelawney decided to have another random drama show. She was looking into Harry's cup and then fell backward, hand on her heart. She began muttering something about a powerful enemy, and a Grim, predicting Harry's death. Everyone around her pretty much freaked out at that point. Lavender clapped her hands over her mouth while Parvati gasped. Hermione, at that point, said that everyone knew about Harry's enemy; the infamous Voldemort aka 'You-Know-Who' and that whatever was in the cup did not look like a Grim. The teacher had then told Hermione that she "Did not perceive much aura around her and had very little resonances of the future." Hermione flared at that but said nothing while everyone else was busy studying Harry's cup, trying to see if it was Grim.

"When you've all finished deciding on whether or not I'm going to die!" Harry snapped and everyone decided not to look at him. That's when the Professor concluded the lesson.

The poor boy had been a wreck the whole day. In Transfiguration everyone kept glancing at him as McGonagall discussed Animagi. Hope perked up at this, remembering the day she had first met the woman. She then squealed when McGonagall transformed into a tabby cat with spectacle marks around her eyes and back again. However, Hope was the only one who had shown a reaction.

"What has gotten into you all?" McGonagall asked, looking around. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not gotten an applause from a class."

Everyone glanced at Harry, who looked like he wanted to shrink into the desk, but said nothing. Then Hermione raised her hand. "Well, Professor, we just had our first Divination class and we were reading tea leaves-"

"Ah, of course..." McGonangall said with a frown. "No need to say anymore, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"

Everyone stared at her.

"Me." Harry said finally.

"I see... Well, you should know, Potter, that Sybil Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues..." The woman then broke off, took a deep breath through her nose before speaking again. "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic.I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney-"

She stopped again then focused on Harry. "You look to be in perfect health, Potter. So, please excuse me if I don't let you off of homework today. I assure you if you die, you need not hand it in."

Hermione laughed. Hope grinned and Harry straightened up and gave a weak smile. Though, a few people could be heard conversing about the happenings in the Divination tower once Transfiguration was over.

Everyone then headed for lunch. Hope's stomach was growling fiercely. She flopped into her normal seat next to Parvati and Lavender, both of whom were going on in awed voices about what had occurred in Divination. Hope used this time to pull out her new book. This one was another Harlequin novel and as she allowed herself to get sucked into the story, she imagined herself as the heroine and a certain Weasley twin as the hero. And when it got to the steamy scene she had to keep from squealing at the table.

However her little daze was interrupted by the sound of arguing.

"You haven't seen a black dog, have you, Harry?" Ron was asking.

"The night I left the Dursley's..." Harry said uneasily.

"Probably a stray," Hermione had said calmly.

"Hermione, if he's seen a Grim... that's bad! My uncle Bilius saw one and- he died twenty-four hours later!"

"Coincidence," Hermione said.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ron said angrily. "Grims scare the daylights out of most wizards!"

"And they are what cause death, Grims. They're not omens. People die of fright from seeing them. And Harry's still with us because he's not stupid enough to see one and thin, right, well, I'd better kick the bucket then!"

Ron just gaped at her, mouth moving though he couldn't find anything to say. Hermione had went about reading her Arithmancy book as if the argument was settled.

"Does he realize that she basically just said his uncle died was because he was stupid?" Hope whispered to Parvati who was pretending to not listen to the argument. "I would've slapped her for that." She then went back to her book.

"Hope, you'd slap someone for a chocolate bar," Lavender said though she gave Hermione a disapproving look.

Harry, for his part, watched his friends apprehensively. He also heard the girls whispering but couldn't make out what they were saying. Ron still hadn't found his voice and Hermione went on.

"Divination seems very woolly, if you ask me."

"No one did," Harry heard Lavender huff scathingly to her friends.

"There's nothing woolly about the Grim in that cup!" Ron said loudly, finally finding his voice. "Professor Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura! You just don't like being bad at something for a change! Like chess or flying!"

Harry, who had taken a sip at pumpkin juice, choked at that. There was a chorus of giggles from Parvati and Lavender. Hermione slammed her Arithmancy book down so hard that bits of food flew everywhere.

"Well if being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That was complete rubbish compared to my Arithmancy lesson!" And with that she grabbed her bag and flounced from the Hall.

"What's she even talking about?" Ron asked Harry. "She hasn't even had an Arithmancy lesson yet!"

Ugh. Arithmancy, chess, Grims... Those guys are just ruining my smut..." Hope muttered as she packed up stood to head for Care of Magical Creatures, Parvati and Lavender still snickering behind her.

"Ruining your what?" a voice asked from behind her and she froze, whirling around to see Fred smirking behind her.

"Ahh... Fred! Hey! I, uh-"

The boy quickly snatched the book from her, flipping to the page she had been on. Hope's cheeks flushed with color and she reached for the book. "Give that back!"

Fred only skimmed the pages, brows raising at some of the scenes. "Ohoho! Hope Mitchell, you bad girl!"

"FRED!" Hope squealed, ready to die of embarrassment.

"Fred, what are you doing?" Percy's disapproving voice yelled as he made his way toward the couple.

Fred rolled his eyes and shoved Hope's book into her backpack side pocket. "Here you are. We don't need Bighead Boy coming over here."

His arm brushed hers and Hope felt a swooping sensation as if she had missed a couple of stairs. Fred noted her blush and smirked. "Don't be so embarrassed... It's refreshing to see a girl who isn't a prim and proper stick in the mud. A very attractive quality in a girl."

He then left to catch up with his twin and Lee Jordan, leaving Hope to stare dumbly as a dopey smile spread over her mouth. It wasn't until she heard a giggle from Parvati that she snapped out of it.

"Ah, Hope... we have to get to class, remember?" Lavender said with a teasing grin.

Hope nodded and made her way outside, fully appreciating the beauty of the day.

* * *

Harry was also pleased, but for a different reason. It was nice to get out of the castle. The rain from yesterday had cleared up and the sky was clear, the grass damp and springy underfoot as they set off for their first Care of Magical Creature's lesson.

Ron and Hermione weren't speaking to each other. He glanced over at the trio of other Gryffindor third year girls and noted Hope Mitchell's smile, blush and spring in her step. Lavender and Parvati were shooting her teasing glances as they all made their way down the sloping lawns to Hagrid's Hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. However, Hope's smile was wiped clean from her face and she came to a halt.

"Ahh, screw me!" she growled.

Harry looked in the direction she was glaring and frowned when he noticed the backs of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. They must have had this class with the Slytherins. Wonderful.

Harry watched as Pansy Parkinson bounded to Malfoy like a pug to its master and threw her arms around him.

"Ugh, I just ate..." Harry moaned.

"This crap is giving me gas..." Ron grumbled.

"Oh my God, I still can't believe that cow got a boyfriend before me..." Hope lamented and the girls nodded their agreement like last time.

"Look at the idiot she's with. Are you _sure_ you're jealous?" Harry asked her from the side of his mouth.

Parvati and Lavender snickered while Hope pretended to think. "You have a point. Thanks, Harry! I feel a lot better!"

"Anytime."

Hagrid stood at the door to his hut in his moleskin overcoat, Fang the boarhound at his heels. "C'mon, get a move on!" he called. "Got a real treat for yeh, today. Great lesson comin' up! Everyone, follow me!"

Hagrid lead everyone to a paddock at the edge of the trees though there was nothing there.

"Everyone, gather 'round the fence here! Make sure yeh can see. Now, firs' thin yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-"

"Huh?" Hope asked, brows arched.

"How?" Malfoy asked in his cold, drawling voice.

"Eh?" asked Hagrid.

"How do we open our books?" Malfoy asked and pulled out his copy of _The Monster Book of Monsters_ which was shut tight with rope.

Hope also pulled out hers which was bound with duct tape. Granted, when she had brought the book home, Auntie Bex had gotten the book to calm down by snarling at it with an impressive display of fangs while clenching it hard with her vampire strength. However, Hope didn't have those accessories so this was the best she could do. Others, she noted, had bound the books in tight bags, used binder clips or, like Harry, had used a belt to keep it shut.

"Hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid asked, looking crestfallen.

Everyone shook their heads and Hagrid explained how to open their books. "Yeh've got ter _stroke _them," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Like this-"

The man took Hermione's book which was bound with tape, removed said tape. The book tried to bite Hagrid but he ran a giant forefinger down its spine and the book shivered, and then fell open and lay quiet in his hand.

_Are you friggen kidding me?! _Hope really liked Hagrid but...Wow!

"Oh, how silly of us!" Malfoy sneered. "We should've stroked them! Why didn't we guess?"

"Hmph!" Parkinson sniffed at Malfoy's side.

"I...I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione.

"Oh, yes! Hilarious!" Malfoy scowled. "I always get a tickle from a book that tries to rip my hand off!"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry hissed to the Slytherin.

Hope said nothing. It was bad enough she actually agreed with the loud mouthed blond on something.

Hagrid, who appeared even more down, left to bring whatever creatures they were supposed to be studying. Once he left, Malfoy opened his mouth again.

"That bloody lummox teaching classes?! Wait until I tell my father about this!"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry said again.

"Don't you have a dementor to run from, Potter?" Malfoy shot back.

"Maybe Mitchell can comfort you," Pansy sneered. "Though she might get snot in your hair..."

"Look, bitch-" Hope growled, stepping forward and Parvati held her back.

Luckily Hagrid returned before a fight could break out and Lavender let out a squeal at the sight of the creatures he had brought with him.

The had the hind legs, tails and bodies of horses but the front legs, wings and heads of giant eagles. The talons of their front legs were nearly half a foot long. Each of the animals had a leather collar around their necks, leashes held by Hagrid. He shook the chains, urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood waiting. Everyone drew back when Hagrid reached them and tethered the beasts to the fence.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid said happily. "Aren' they beau'iful?"

Hope's eyes widened as she took in the strange creatures. While she had figured she would be learning about unicorns, or maybe phoenixes, she had to say she was nicely surprised by this creature. Oh, how she wished she could use her cell to take a picture to send to her aunt. The creatures, once the shock wore off, were actually strangely beautiful. The shine of their coats, transitioning from feather to hair, almost seamlessly was nice appealing. Each of the animals were a different color; grey, bronze, pinkish roan, shining chestnut and inky black. The animal lover in her wanted to do a happy dance!

"So," Hagrid said "If yeh want to come a bit nearer-"

Not to many people wanted to do so. However Harry, Ron and Hermione approached cautiously while Hope eagerly stepped forward.

"Now, the firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended. Don't ever insult one 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do. Wait fer the hippogriff to make the firs' move. Walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed to touch him. If he doesn' bow back, then get away from him, cause those talons hurt," Hagrid explained to the class though Malfoy and his morons weren't listening. They were talking in an undertone. Never a good sign.

"Right-who wants ter go firs'?"

Now everyone else backed away, even Hope took a small step back. The hippogriffs were more than a little agitated at being tethered. As curious as Hope was, she wasn't keen on getting scratched up by a hippogriff and having on of her secrets exposed. Granted, she healed at a much slower rate than a vampire, but still...

"I'll do it," Harry said.

A lot of people gasped and Lavender whispered "Harry, no, remember your cup!"

Harry ignored them and climbed over the fence.

Hagrid untied the gray hippogriff and pulled off its collar. Everyone gasped, Lavender and Parvati held onto each other. Malfoy's eyes narrowed as he watched.

"Now, easy, Harry... Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink... Hippogriffs don't trust yeh if yeh blink too much..."

Harry's eyes immediately began to water, but he didn't shut them. Buckbeak had turned his head and was staring at Harry with one fierce, orange eye.

"That's it, Harry... Now, bow..."

Harry did as told, although inwardly he was a nervous wreck. He gave a short bow and looked up. Buckbeak stared haughtily at him and didn't move. And just when they all thought the hippogriff was going to redecorate Harry's face, Buckbeak bent one knee and dipped its head in an unmistakable bow.

"Well done, Harry! Yeh can pet him if yeh want, go on..."

Harry clearly wanted to vault to the safe side of the fence, however he reached forward to gently pat the beast's beak. He watched Harry for a moment before closing his eyes as though thoroughly enjoying it.

"Wonderful! Now... reckon he'll let you ride 'im."

Harry froze at that, however, as he wanted Hagrid to have a good first lesson, he sucked it up and nodded. Hagrid showed Harry where to place his knees, warned him not to pull out any feathers and just when Harry had barely gotten on Hagrid slapped Buckbeak on the hindquarters and the animal broke into a run, vaulted and took off into the air.

Harry's stomach dropped as he held on for dear life. This was NOTHING like his Nimbus 2000! He had to grab onto the creature's feather neck to keep from slipping and was afraid to grip tighter than he wanted for fear of what the proud creature would do if he were to yank out any feathers.

Buckbeak flew Harry around paddock, then came to a rough landing that had Harry worried he would become reacquainted with his lunch. Shakily, he slid off the animal as all the Gryffindors broke into applause at the display.

"Bravo, Harry! Who's next?" Hagrid asked the class.

While everyone else cautiously climbed over the fence, Hope vaulted over it eagerly. She made her way to the pink and roan one and bent forward in a bow, keeping her eyes on the hippogriff. The animal watched her for what seemed like forever and then sank into a bow after a while. Hope grinned and stood, gently patting his beak before moving to scratch behind its ears. The hippogriff closed his eyes and leaned into the touch like a cat being scratched.

"Well done, Hope!" Hagrid beamed. "Yeh can ride im' if yeh like."

Hope let out a nervous chuckle at that. "Eh... I like my feet on the ground..." She really didn't like heights. When they were on the plane to England when she was a child, she had made certain she didn't have the window seat.

"She's scared of heights," Seamus snickered as he and Dean petted another hippogriff. "Remember the first flying lesson..."

"Shut up, Seamus..." Hope huffed before turning back to the hippogriff. "You're so pretty, yes you are!" Parvati and Lavender were also working with this one while Hope stepped back to let them.

Not everyone was as confident as Harry and Hope when it came to the animals. Neville kept creeping forward only to run back to the fence.

Buckbeak had been taken over by Malfoy and his idiots. The hippogriff had bowed to Malfoy who was petting him lazily on the beak with a look of scorn on his face.

"This is easy... Should've know it would be if Potter could do it. You aren't dangerous at all, are you?" Malfoy asked the hippogriff scathingly "Are you, you ugly git!"

A loud, piercing cry like an eagle split the air. There was a flash of talons and Malfoy was lying, screaming on the ground, his uniform blossoming with blood. Hagrid wrestled Buckbeak back to the into his collar as the animal tried to get at Malfoy, who was curled in the fetal position, holding his arm.

"I'm dying! It's killed me! I'm dying!"

Pansy shrieked, tears springing her eyes as she rushed to Draco's side. "Sweetheart, stay with me!"

Everyone else panicked as Hagrid, white-faced, lifted the injured boy easily and Hermione opened the gate so he could run the Slytherin back to the castle.

Shaken, the class followed at a slow walk and the remaining Slytherins shouted about Hagrid.

"He should be sacked! They should fire him!" Pansy cried, tears in her eyes. "Ooh, my poor Draco!"

"It was his own fault!" Harry hissed. "It's not Hagrid's fault your boyfriend doesn't know how to listen!" Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles threateningly but Harry wasn't fussed. "Crabbe, piss off!"

They made their way up the stone steps and into the deserted entrance hall.

"I'm going to make sure my Draco is okay!" Pansy cried and took off down the hall. The remaining Slytherins headed to their dungeon common room while the Gryffindors headed to their tower.

"Can you believe that bullshit?" Hope demanded as they all headed to Gryffindor Tower. "What a load of- 'I'm dying! Save me!' and then 'Oh, sweetheart! Stay with me! Edward! Bella!' Ugh! Fucking Slytherins!"

Harry wholeheartedly agreed with her.

"Do you think he'll be all right?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Who cares?" Hope scoffed.

"Not me," Dean said.

"Madam Pomfrey'll have him fixed in about a second," Harry said though he was still in agreement with Hope and Dean. He really wasn't too fussed about how hurt the moron was. Like he had said, it was Draco's own fault.

"But, that was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid's first lesson, wasn't it?" Ron asked worriedly.

"Fucking Slytherins..." Hope repeated again as she made her way to the girls dorms.

* * *

During dinner, everyone was still discussing what had happened in Care of Magical Creatures. Harry had tried to see if Hagrid was at the staff table, but his spot was empty. He then, though much to the worry of Hermione, decided they should visit him.

Hope had glanced up just as the three left the Great Hall but stayed in her seat as she ripped through her food. Padma had moved from the Ravenclaw table to ask them what had happened.

"Is it true a hippogriff went wild and attacked Draco Malfoy?"

"No. Malfoy didn't follow directions and tried to screw up Hagrid's first lesson but got gashed up for his troubles," Hope told her.

"Hmm..." Padma poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice. "Well, they're all over there, the Slytherins, muttering. Pansy Parkinson's been crying all day."

"Fuck her," Hope said easily as she took a bite of her roast beef.

"He probably did," Fred said across from her.

Lavender and Parvati gasped and Hope dropped her fork. "Fred, I'm eating!"

"Now you know how it feels," he said with a smirk.

Hope felt her cheeks flush and she went back to her food, ignoring the looks her friends were giving her.

"Padma..." Parvati said suddenly. "Look who it is..."

Hope looked up to see Padma flush as her eyes fell on the Hufflepuff table. If Cedric Diggory had been hot their first year when he was fourteen, he was like a god at aged sixteen. Hope's brows rose appreciatively and she noted the way Padma's brown cheeks darkened at the sight of the boy.

"Mhm..." she said to herself as she reached for the potatoes.

It was half way during dinner that she remembered she needed to speak with the nurse about her lady business. After finishing her meal, she made her way to the hospital wing. She knocked on the door and the kind older woman opened the door.

"Miss Mitchell, what is it?"

"Um... I have a medical question..."

Madam Pomfrey arched a brow when she noticed the blushing young woman. Hope Mitchell was one of the few students that never had been admitted to her wing in all of the two years she had been a student at Hogwarts. The nurse swept a critical eye over her. She could not see any injuries. "What's your question?"

When the girl flushed a deeper shade of scarlet she got the feeling this was of a puberty nature. There had been many a young first, second and third year student coming to her, stressing over their first cycles. "Oh... cramps? I see. One moment. I have something for that." She handed the girl a piece of chocolate. "This helps the mood swings, it's not just for dementors. Now, as for the cramps-"

"Madam Pomfrey... I'm not on my period. That's kind of the problem."

Now the older woman's eyes widened. "I see..."

Hope sighed and Madam Pomfrey lead her back into her office, away from the hospital beds. She gestured for the young woman to sit down. "How old are you, dear?"

"Thirteen."

"Well, this is quite the predicament you have gotten yourself in, young lady. Will the father be taking responsibility?"

Now Hope's eyes widened and she popped out of her chair, face burning but this time with outrage. "I'm not pregnant! I just haven't had my period! In like, ever. Its never started. And FYI, I'm a total virgin! I've never even kissed a boy!"

Madam Pomfrey's hands flew to her mouth in horror. "Oh! Well, I'm so sorry my dear... I shouldn't have assumed." She gestured the girl to sit again. "Is that why you're worried? Well, sometimes it can take up to age fifteen. I wouldn't worry dear. And some girls can start as early as eight years old. It usually takes two years after breasts begin to develop."

Hope looked down at her chest which had poofed out a bit. She did have to go bra shopping before the start of time. "Well, it should be about a year then..."

* * *

It was a few days later when they had Potions with Slytherin. Malfoy, after days of missing classes, had finally strutted into the dungeon. Harry looked up and barely contained his ire at the image of Draco strutting in like some bloody war hero, his arm in a sling. The whole class was then subjected to a repulsive display of Pansy swooping in to give him a careful hug and Draco made a show of pulling her close with one arm while holding the sling arm carefully, giving a light wince and brave smile as Pansy fussed over him. Hope pretended to throw up into her cauldron.

Harry wanted nothing more than to beat the little twerp's face in. When he and the others had visited Hagrid, the man was so miserable he had nearly drank himself stupid. The school governors had been contacted and poor Hagrid had been afraid he would be sacked. He hadn't been, but still!

And to make matters worse, Malfoy had plopped next to Harry and began complaining that he couldn't do certain things, such as grind or cut potion ingredients due to his sling.

And what did Snape do? Make Harry and Ron cut up his ingredients like he was some sort of invalid. Harry and Ron fumed at the injustice of it all while Malfoy just snickered happily.

"Harry..." Hope had whispered lightly as she moved back to her spot next to Parvati. Harry turned and Hope made a motion for him to lean far to the right. She then pulled out a small piece of paper, dipped it in leech juice, balled it up...

Harry did as asked and bit the inside of his mouth when Hope flicked the leech-ball. It landed soundlessly on the back of Malfoy's robes. It took all of Harry's self control not to break into snickers. After the crap Malfoy was pulling this year, he would take what he could get.

Hermione had noticed what was going on and a look of shocked disapproval on her face but said nothing. Ron was too busy fuming as he cut Malfoy's daisy roots to notice what was going on.

Snape looked up and Hope schooled her face into an expression of annoyance as she measured her ingredients on the scales. It was clear she had done this before, probably in muggle primary school. When the man leaned back down over his parchment, she reloaded and fired, this time it landed in Malfoy's sleek hair.

"Seen your pal Hagrid lately?" Malfoy asked Harry and Ron, unaware of the steady stream of soggy leech balls hitting his back.

Harry heard a shocked gasp that told him Parvati and Lavender had seen what Hope was up to.

"None of your business," Ron spat.

"I'm afraid he won't be a teacher here much longer," Malfoy continued. "Father's not very happy about my injury..."

"I can give you a real injury, just keep talking..." Harry snarled.

Malfoy ignored him and continued. "Father spoke with the governors of the school, as well as the Minister of Magic. He has influence, you see-"

There was another thud and Harry found this time it gave him little pleasure, not when Malfoy was going on and on about getting Hagrid sacked with his _daddy's _influence.

"So, that's why you're faking that injury?" Harry asked, wrath lacing his voice. "You're trying to get Hagrid fired."

"Well, that's _partly_ true... But, there are some other benefits... Slice my caterpillars for me, Weasley."

Hope had apparently ran out of paper and had gotten up to wash her hands.

"So, while I was recovering in the hospital wing," Draco drawled to his fellow Slytherins as Ron angrily chopped the caterpillers "You will not believe what I heard..."

"What's that, Draco?" Pansy simpered.

"Well, Mitchell apparently came into the hospital wing because she hadn't gotten her period." The paused to shudder at the mention of gross 'girl' business. "Then Madam Pomfrey took her into her office."

Harry and Ron both dropped the ingredients for their Shrinking Potion. They both looked at each other and then at the girl in question. Hope was rather far away, rinsing her hands and hadn't heard what was being said. Pansy's eyes brightened like she had just received news that Christmas was coming early.

"I bet anything that she's pregnant and wants to get rid of it. Who did you think it was?"

"Probably one of the Weasley twins. She's been making goggly eyes at them ever since the dementor thing on the train..." Millicent Bulstrode muttered to Pansy.

"Well, that's why she was such a sobbing wreck on the train..."

"What's it say about Potter that a pregnant girl handled the dementors better than he did!" Draco guffawed.

Now the class looked up at the mention of someone being pregnant. Harry felt wrath grip him in a vice. He and Hope weren't close but she didn't deserve that!

"Settle down," Snape told the Slytherins idly.

The Slytherins snickered but kept quiet, whispering here and there and flicking their eyes toward Hope.

"My brothers would never do that to a third year!" Ron whispered to Harry angrily.

"And Hope's crude but she's not that kind of girl!" Seamus also whispered hotly. Apparently he had heard the lies the Slytherin table was spouting.

"I'm not what kind of girl?"

Harry froze and slowly turned around to see the girl in question looking at them curiously.

"Malfoy said you went to see Madam Pomfrey and that you're pregnant since you didn't get your... y'know..." Ron finished uncomfortably.

Harry watched Hope's face turn ghostly white and then dark purple in wrath. "What?"

"And they're saying that it's one of the Weasley twins..." Harry told her uneasily.

"That is a total lie!" Hermione whispered sharply. "She just hadn't it at all and was wondering if something's wrong with her..."

"What a total-" Parvati began.

"Which twin do you think it was?" Crabbe asked, catching everyone's attention. Harry saw Ron's ears turn bright red in wrath at the way they were talking about his brothers.

"Which one got her pregnant?" Pansy muttered to the group. "Who knows. She is skanky enough to go after two brothers... and considering they are Purebloods, it's probably the best she could hope to do. Plus, they are Beaters..." The group snickered while the Gryffindors all looked on in muted horror.

"Oh, I bet they _beat_ something all right..." Crabbe chimed in and received a bunch of high fives from the Slytherins.

"Fuck you, Scabies!" Hope roared at Crabbe.

"Five points from Gryffindor, Mitchell..." Snape said absently and Harry noted with rage he did nothing to quell the accusations that Hope was a whore.

Though annoyed by the loss of points, Dean and Seamus snickered at the nickname and even Hermione bit back a giggle. Harry made the connection between Crabbe and Hope's new name for him and also broke into snickers. The Slytherins all shot her poisonous glares but Malfoy recovered. "Careful, Mitchell. It's not good for the baby to get so mad... though if it is Weasley's I guess you'll have to find a nice shoebox for it to sleep in unless _your _family can actually afford a crib..." But then he seemed to think of something else. "Well, if you look at her, apparently she does have money... Think they planned it, considering how poor they are?" Draco smirked. "Got her knocked up so _her_ family could take care of theirs?"

"And then took turns to make certain it took... Wow. Not that she minded..." Pansy smirked.

Ron shot to his feet but Harry and Seamus held him back and Hope nearly shot over the desk, hands reaching for Pansy's throat, but Dean and Hermione held her back. "Oh, that's it! You bitch! It's on!"

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mitchell and Weasley. You must learn to control that temper of yours, especially in your condition."

The class froze, disgusted shock coming from the Gryffindors while the Slytherins looked ready to burst into song. Hope froze in her friends' grasps and whirled to face the Potions Master. "I'm not pregnant! But if I was and I wanted an abortion I'm sure we could make a potion of whatever that gross shit is that's in your hair!"

The entire dungeon fell silent and Snape leaned forward towards her. Hope flinched a bit but squared her shoulders, eyes narrowed. "A weeks detention, Miss Mitchell. And you ever insult me again you will be expelled. Get out of my class."

Hope broke from her friends' grips and stormed past Draco's desk, knocking over his potion on the way out of the door before slamming it. Snape just turned back to what he was doing. "Weasley, pick up Draco's belongings and another ten points from Gryffindor for Mitchell's outburst."

To make matters worse for Gryffindor, Neville was being berated by Snape. Apparently the forgetful boy had made a mistake and his potion was turning green instead of orange as it was supposed to.

"Idiot boy! Tell me, boy, does nothing penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice! What must I do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

* * *

Hope scrawled an angry letter to her aunt, detailing everything that had happened from the dementors on the train to the Slytherins calling her a whore. She left out a few things, such as the way the dementors made her want to kill herself, only to say they were creepy. However she went into full detail about the crap from the Slytherins, and if her aunt decided to vamp out and kill all of them, then hey... they shouldn't have been talking shit. After attaching the letter to Niklaus's foot and feeding him a bit of ham from her plate she stormed out from lunch to the common room. She couldn't be in here. People kept glancing at her and whispering. Whenever she passed the Slytherin table she heard coughs that sounded suspiciously like "Slut" and "whore" and she refused to think of the prickling in her eyes as tears.

Once she got into the common room, she flopped into one of the squishy chairs and pulled out her books to start on her Transfiguration homework but couldn't due to the tears that kept smearing the ink. How was she going to get through this? Fred would never want to talk to her again and the whole school thought she was a slut. She remembered a girl back in her old middle school in America. The girl apparently slept with a boy when she was around Hope's age and had gotten pregnant. Everyone in the school called her a slut and she ended up losing it and killing herself, leaving suicide notes on Twitter. What if that happened to her? What if she ran into a dementor and decided to go with the suicide impulse because of all of this madness?

Pushing the books out of her lap, she curled into a ball, burying her face in her knees and sobbing. Stupid fucking Slytherins. She hated them all. Its a shame there wasn't a monster that fed on assholes the way it tried to kill muggle-borns last year. That would solve all of her problems.

She heard the portrait open and quickly wiped her face, picking her book back up. Oh just her luck, it was everyone including Fred and George. She quickly averted her gaze but froze when she felt both of them sit on the arms of her chair.

"Just so you know, Ron and Hermione told us what happened and we're not mad at you."

Relief flooded her like a waterfall and she let out a lengthy sigh. "I'm really sorry guys..."

"Oh, don't even worry about it..." George said lightly, patting her shoulder. "Besides, we heard about the mountain of leech balls on his back that you left as a get well present. Excellent!"

"You heard about that..." Hope was now a tad pleased with herself.

"Please, if we had a Galleon for every time some Slytherin tart tried to ruin an innocent girl's reputation because she was jealous, we could buy half the planet..." Fred added.

"That's all they do is start mess. It's what they live for." Ginny told her. "It's not like they're good at much else."

Hope giggled but then turned serious. "They're gonna pay for that..."

"The leech balls weren't enough?" Harry smirked, knowing the answer.

"Hell no!" Hope scoffed.

"Hope..." Hermione warned, a wary look on her face.

"How's that?" Harry asked. If Hope was planning on getting Draco and Pansy back for their slander, he was all for it, especially after the stunt Draco had pulled in Hagrid's class.

"I don't know yet... but I'll think of something..." She then stood up. "But in the meantime, when the match comes... Pound Slytherin like the whores they are!"

All of the Gryffindor team member's brows rose before the common room erupted into applause.

"Ooh, I like her!" Fred cheered.

Only Hope noticed the triumphant gleam in Lavender and Parvati's eyes at his declaration.

"Ahh... it's time for Defense Against the Dark Arts..." Parvati smiled, leading the way out of the common room.

Hope grabbed her books and left the common room with everyone. She said nothing as they made their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class but one thought kept sifting though her head. Pansy crossed a line and now she was going to pay. She didn't know how but she would find a way to ruin that Pug face's life.

She did not know it yet but soon she would.

Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy had been marked.

**Yes, this chapter had a fair bit of teen drama but remember, as nice and somewhat vanilla as Harry Potter was this is Originals drama meaning a bit of crude language horrid themes for underage kids and downright douchebaggery. Now, the preggo scandal... it happens. Even at 13, and Slytherin reminds me of irritating snobby kids who would start a scandal like that. Don't worry, the story will pick up with more supernatural elements. I'm quite certain everyone noticed Hope's strange feeling toward Lupin, not unlike Bonnie's feeling toward Lucy in Vampire Diaries. (Now, they are not related so don't even worry about that.) Also, the drama and the blood shall pick up. And as for Hope's attraction toward Fred, well... c'mon. We have to have a bit of silly puppy love before we get to the ooey gooey center that is Harry/Hope. Also, there is a reason dementors make her want to kill herself... its not just for emo drama. **


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the Originals, Vampire Diaries or Harry Potter. They all belong to their respective trademark owners.

A/N: I had so much fun writing this chapter. I had to go back and watch the first season of Vampire Diaries on Netflix to get a feel of an unactivated werewolf.

Three months ago

"_Auntie... when you first told me you were a vampire... You said that it came with certain stuff, right?"_

_Rebekah looked up from the runes she was writing down for Hope to study and arched a brow. "What are you getting at?"_

"_You can do the compulsion thing, but you can't compel supernatural creatures, right?"_

"_Right... otherwise your room would always be spotless..."Rebekah smirked and Hope gave a huff. "But, we can get into other vampires' heads, mess with their dreams, same as people."_

_Hope steeled herself before asking. "Can you do that to me? Show me things..."_

_Rebekah sat up fully and narrowed her eyes at the girl. "What are you asking me, Hope?"_

"_Can you show me my mom?"_

_Rebekah's expression softened and she sighed and seemed to be searching her mind for something. Then she placed her hand on Hope's temple. _

_This time she saw Rebekah standing inside of a large manor. A young brunette woman descended the stairs, poker from the fireplace in hand. As she descended the stairs Hope couldn't help but notice the woman was very beautiful. It was clear where she inherited that hair from as it was always a point of pride with her. She also noted she and her mother shared the same facial shape and eyebrows. She hoped her body was that rocking one day. _

"_Who the Hell are you?" she demanded._

"_Ahh, you must be the maid. My bags are in the car. Get them, will you?" _

_The girl gave her a humorless smile. "Hello. Not the maid."_

"_Right you're that werewolf girl my brother Klaus knocked up. I was expecting some sort of supernatural miracle baby bump. Guess you're not showing yet. It's Hayley, isn't it?"_

_Hayley arched her brows and gave a mix of a scoff and false smile. "You have your brother's manners."_

"_And his temper. So watch it."_

_Hayley continued to look unimpressed. _

_When Rebekah pulled out of Hope's mind but the girl grabbed her hand when she was about to pull it away._

"_Can you show me my Dad?" _

_Rebekah sighed and seemed to take longer as if searching her mind for something. Placing her hand on the girl's temple, Rebekah closed her eyes. Within a moment Hope gasped as the images flooded her brain. _

_This time the scenery was different. It wasn't a modern setting, but a cave. She saw Rebekah clothed in a long dress, carving her names into the stone wall of the cave in runic. Next to her stood a man a bit older than her. Hope's breath caught when she got her first look at her father. He seemed so happy and carefree. Long curly blond hair hung to his shoulders and wide blue eyes, like her own. She noted his mouth, which was quick to laugh, was like her own as well. _

"_Dad..." _

_They left the cave and at the opening stood a woman. An older with wavy blond hair, the same as Rebekah's. She wore a green dress and a kind smile, announcing that supper was ready. _

_Their mother. Her grandmother. Esther._

_The one who ordered Hope killed. _

_At that moment Rebekah withdrew from her mind. "That's enough family history."_

_The girl opened her eyes not knowing how to feel. That was the first actual glimpse she had of her family. She felt happy, confused, sad and angry all at once. Why? She didn't know. _

"_Now, study those runes. If you want to trounce all over that Granger girl in at least one class, read up. And go over that chart on Norse mythology and match the gods up with their Greek, Roman and Egyptian counterparts and be certain tell me when you're finished if the planets had been named for Norse gods instead of Roman, which planet would be what."_

_Hope just goggled at her like she had lost her mind. "Wha...?"_

"_You made a very big mistake coming to me for help in a girl war, even if it is academic. You should know I enjoy other cultures and had spent well over a thousand years soaking up everything I could about each one. Now, you have vampire blood in your body, try to channel it and be a bit quicker raising your hand just so you can show the little twit up. I saw her at the train station when I picked you up and no niece of mine is going to be bested by a girl with hair like that. _

_Hope had a sinking feeling her summer was not going to be as fantastic as she planned. Sighing, she went back to her chart but was unable to put the image of her grandmother out of her mind. She imagined that kind face twisting in revulsion, staring her down as she told her she was an abomination._

* * *

Hope made her way to her Defense of Dark Arts class, that strange feeling from the train growing upon each step. It felt like there was a tether in her brain, leading her here. When they entered the class, the professor was not there but she still had a strange feeling, like he would turn up soon. Honestly, it was a welcome distraction from the rage that occupied her mind at the thought of the Slytherins.

"Don't worry," Lavender said comfortingly. "In no time at all, everyone will realize it was all rubbish."

"We can go to the Headmaster later. Or Professor McGonagall? I'll go with you," Hermione offered, though Hope had the sneaking suspicion that Hermione just wanted to keep Hope from doing anything drastic.

"I wrote to my aunt about what to do about it..." Hope told her and that seemed to calm Hermione a bit.

"Oh! Well, that's good. Involving a parent would be a good idea."

Hope smirked at the idea of what would happen once Rebekah set foot on Hogwarts. Would Pansy piss herself? That would be awesome.

"So, what happened after I get kicked out?" Hope asked. Class had barely been over when she stormed out.

Lavender scowled. "Oh, that awful man! He took five points from Gryffindor because Hermione helped Neville with the Shrinking Potion potion. Snape was going to feed the wrong potion to Neville's toad! More than likely it would have poisoned him! So, Hermione helped Neville out and Snape took off five points..."

"Someone needs to slap that bitch," Hope grumbled, seething. She wasn't a fan of toads but that was just awful! At least in muggle science classes the frogs that were dissected were dead and didn't belong to anyone.

A sudden snap in her brain had her turning her head to the door and within moments, the professor entered the classroom. He still looked rumpled, and wore clothes suited for a vagrant, but it seemed he had at least eaten some actual meals during his time in the castle.

"Good afternoon," Professor Lupin greeted. "Today's lesson will be a practical lesson and only your wands will be needed. Now, if you could all follow me please."

Hope and Lavender exchanged glances. They never had a practical DADA lesson... Other than last year with the pixies. Professor Lupin led the excited and curious students into a staff room where Snape was just man halted when he saw Lupin, a nasty sneer playing around his mouth.

"Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless he has Miss Granger hissing instructions in his ear."

Neville flushed and the rest of the Gryffindors glared at Snape. It was one thing to bully Neville in his own class but doing it in front of other teachers!

_Oooh, wait until my Aunt Bex gets here... I hope she drains you dry!_

Lupin's brows rose at Snape and he spoke pleasantly. "I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the lesson. I'm sure he will perform it admirably."

Neville went a deeper shade of red and Snape's lip curled but he said nothing. His eyes did move to Hope glared defiantly back at him. Lavender clutched her hand to keep her from doing or saying anything drastic. But, the man said nothing and swept out of the room, his robes making him look like an oversized bat.

Her rage must have shown on her face because Harry had placed a hand on her shoulder as if to calm her. "Are you all right, Hope?" he asked.

"I'm cool," she replied, "Just imagining what he would look like with a black eye to go with those robes."

Harry smiled at her reply, having imagined that a few times himself. "If that happens, I'd love to have a picture of it..."

"Me too..." a small voice muttered behind them and they both grinned in surprise.

"Of course, Neville." The poor boy got so much humiliation at the hands of Snape, it was no shock the gentle boy would want to see his ass kicked.

"All right, class," Professor Lupin began and everyone paid rapt attention. They noticed a wardrobe standing in the room but it was shaking. Everyone's defenses went up and they took a step back. Professor Lupin gave a small smile at their reaction. "No need to worry there's just a boggart in there."

Neither Hope nor Harry new what a boggart was but they couldn't help but notice a majority of the students seemed to not find this news comforting. However the professor ignored their worried looks and continued. "What is a boggart? Who can tell me?"

On cue Hermione's hand shot up and Hope rolled her eyes. But, it was fine. She still had Ancient Runes to get to and that's when the tables would flip. She would finally be Queen of a Class in their year and she wouldn't have to deal with Hermione trying show up everyone all the time. But for now she let Hermione answer the question because honestly, she had no clue what a boggart was.

"It's a shapeshifter," Hermione spoke, "It takes the form of whatever it think will frighten us the most."

"Very good. Couldn't have said it better myself," Lupin said and Hermione beamed while Hope and Parvati exchanged eye rolls.

"When I let the boggart out it will assume whatever form it believes will frighten us." Hope heard Neville whimper and she couldn't help but feel a shiver roll down her spine. "This means that we have an advantage over the boggart. Do you know what it is Harry?"

Harry seemed to search his mind for an answer all while Hermione still had her hand up, standing as tall as she could. For some reason that ticked Hope off a bit and she scoffed. "Oh my God, he asked Harry and she's still got her hand up. Seriously?" Hope muttered to Parvati who covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

Hermione must've heard what she had said because she turned to look at her with a disbelieving look and Hope just arched her brows as if daring her to say something. She didn't know why she felt like antagonizing Hermione but it was rather fun.

"Er... because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape to take," Harry had answered the question correctly and Hope had rolled her eyes again when Hermione looked put out.

_This heifer right here... I swear to God..._

"Exactly." He then explained a charm that could be used to repel a boggart, taking the thing that was feared and making it amusing. It was called the Riddikulus charm. He then called Neville forward, asking him his biggest fear. Hope had zoned out a bit, her mind going back to what happened in Potions. Ire boiled in the pit of her stomach and she entertained herself with all of the lovely ways she would stomp Pansy into the ground. And as for Snape...

Wait, why was Snape coming out of the closet? And why did that give her so many jokes?

Neville whimpered and raised his wand, stuttering out "R-riddikulus!"

There was a loud crack and Hope was greeted with the image of Snape in a long green dress and the most awful hat she had ever seen in her life. And was it her imagination or was Snape pregnant? Her jaw dropped and she almost fell over with shocked delight. Her sides hurt from laughing so hard. She could see tears coming from Harry and Ron's eyes and a few others had doubled over, holding their sides.

"Oh my God! Neville, you're awesome!"

Neville flushed and smiled and Professor Lupin gave a laugh. "Very good, Neville! Parvati!"

One by one different things, scary things appeared and then with the shout of "Riddikulus" they switched to the most silly things ever. Parvati's bloodstained mummy tripped on its bandages. Seamus's banshee lost her voice. By the fifth silly thing she had completely forgotten her wrath at Slytherin and was waiting for her turn. She racked her brain for what she was afraid of. The serial killer that was roaming loose? Nah. Cockroaches? Nah. Auntie Bex yelling at her? Yeah, but it wasn't as scary as it was before. What was she most afraid of?

"Hope!"

Now it was Hope's turn. She stepped in front of the of the boggart that was currently in the form of a giant eyeball. It shifted and Hope readied her wand, ready to scream 'Riddukulus' like everyone else had. The boggart shifted and the confidant smile slipped off of her face like chalk being erased from a board.

Across the room, Harry watched, eager to take on the boggart. Hope had stepped in front of it and it shifted into a tall, blond woman in a green dress. The dress looked a bit old fashioned but not terribly out of place. She fixed Hope with a piercing glare and walked toward her.

"You are an abomination! Like the evolution of an already lethal disease. A plague on this earth."

The class fell silent as Hope let out a frail squeak and she tried to raise her wand but her hand was shaking horribly. Her face was sheet white and he could see the shimmer of tears in her eyes. Parvati moved to place a hand on Hope's shoulder but the boggart then shifted to a wrapped and decaying mummy. Hope seemed to snap out of it and pushed Parvati out of the way. The mummy shifted back to the woman and Hope held out her wand. "Riddikulus!"

There was a loud crack and the woman's dress shifted into a giant clown suit. Hope let out a sigh of relief and the mood of the class lightened again, everyone laughing at the boggart's silly attire. Hope gave a shaky laugh as well but eased toward the back of the group and only Harry saw her slide out of the staffroom.

* * *

"I can never tell her I actually like this show..."

Rebekah was parked in front of her television, a glass of wine in one hand and a bloodbag in the other. She was indulging in her usual ritual that had began the first year Hope had left for Hogwarts. She would watch all of the silly shows that Hope enjoyed, wondering what was the appeal. She was currently watching one of Hope's bloodier anime, _Attack on Titan._ And she was slightly horrified to find she was highly intrigued, especially after the first episode. And it was either her emotions on high from missing Hope or the seventh glass of wine but she actually found herself tearing up a bit.

"Oh... poor Eren... Although Mikasa reminds me of Elijah... nag nag nag..."

A flutter of wings and a tap at the window caught her attention. Sighing, she stood tipsily and made her way to the window. "Speaking of things that remind me of my brothers..."

Niklaus sat perched on the windowsill his yellow eyes giving her an unimpressed look. She and the owl had a hate-hate relationship and she would love nothing more than to kill it but Hope loved the bloody pest so she tolerated its presence. She opened the window and let the bird in. He stuck out his foot and turned his head away from her as if he would rather look at potted plants than her. She yanked the note from his foot and hissed at him.

"Little snob." She rolled open the letter as Niklaus hooted angrily that she did not give him a treat. The note was written Hope's loopy handwriting and she sobered a bit when she saw tear stains on the paper.

_Auntie Bex,_

_This is like the worst week ever! When I got on the train everything was cool. I was chilling out with Parvati, Padma and Lavender when the train stopped. Apparently there's some weird wizard criminal who escaped, it was the same guy we saw on the news, and they had these things looking everywhere for him. Why on the train I have no clue but these things, Fred Weasley told me they were called Dementors of Azkaban, came on the train and they were so creepy! They looked like Grim Reapers without the charm. They freaked out a bunch of people, and Harry Potter actually fainted but it was no biggie. Then Pansy was being a bitch as well as this douchebag named Draco Malfoy but I handled it. Speaking of Draco, in Care of Magical Creatures, we were learning about these awesome creatures called Hippogriffs and Draco got bit by one because he was being a douche and ended up in the hospital wing and that's when stuff went to Hell. I was wondering why I didn't get my rag yet so I went to the nurse, wondering if something was wrong with me. Draco was there in a bed but I didn't see him and I told the nurse I didn't get my period and he told Pansy and she made up a rumor that I was pregnant and that Fred and George took turns so I would take care of their family since they don't have a lot of money. So, I went off in class tried to beat up Pansy and that DICK PROFESSOR SNAPE WHO ALWAYS WIPES SLYTHERIN'S ASSES TOLD ME TO CALM DOWN SINCE ITS 'NOT GOOD FOR MY CONDITION!' Then I went off on him and he gave me a week's detention! I'm just so mad right now! I don't know what to do. _

_Hope_

_P.S. Can Parvati and Padma come by during Christmas break for a day? Lavender too? I want to show them the internet and stuff._

Rebekah read and reread the note, feeling her rage bubble up at what her niece had to deal with on her first week back. Her first impulse was to go directly to King's Cross and figure out a way to get to Hogwarts and rip those bloody brats and that potions teacher to shreds. However, more than likely she wouldn't be able to make it there and she had no idea where the school was actually located. Only that it was somewhere in Scotland. The only way to get there would be the train and it was probably not even stationed at King's Cross at this moment.

"Bloody hell..." She then turned to the owl, "What the Hell am I supposed to do?" Niklaus just hooted and gave her a bored look. "You're no help..."

She then pulled out her phone and sent a text to Elijah, he always knew what to do.

_Hope is having a crisis. What should I do?_

The reply was immediate.

_Is she all right?_

_She's fine. It's students at her school. Children calling her a whore and a teacher advocating it. _

Now here phone rang.

"Hello?"

"What on Earth is happening to our niece?" Elijah asked, wasting no time.

"She sent me a letter from her school. Apparently some kids started a rumor that she was pregnant and she's highly upset..."

"Is she?" Elijah asked, sounding wary and she scoffed.

"No! She hasn't gotten her period so she's freaking out, wondering if something's wrong with her. She went to the nurse and some boy in the rival house who is in the infirmary heard her then started the rumor in class."

Now Elijah simply sighed. "Well, it seems that she's dealing with typical childhood bullying and cruelty. And while I would love nothing more than to show those little brats a thing or two, it would not do to expose ourselves or her in a school."

Rebekah wanted to tell her brother that it was more than just a school, however over the past two years she had never divulged that Hope was in a school full of witches. Somehow she had a feeling her family, namely Klaus, would try to stop her and the last thing she wanted was Hope's choices taken away from her. Though it was clear her brother loved his daughter, she did not want him taking away Hope's freedom the way he did to not only Rebekah, but all of his siblings for the better part of a thousand years.

Also, she felt honor bound to Minerva not to divulge the existence of the school considering that the witch never once told Elijah about it when they were a 'thing.' As far as her brothers and Hayley was concerned, Hope was attending a regular school.

"So... what should I tell her? You're good at this sort of thing?"

"Rebekah, I don't even know why you are asking me this. Simply go to the school, and compel the children to stop bullying her."

It wasn't like she knew where the school was, and even if she did, none of them could be compelled. So, she scrambled for a lie. "Hope... knows what I am now, I finally told her. And I had offered to do that but she doesn't want me compelling them. I guess it's her silly part wolf pride that doesn't want me stepping in."

"How is she doing with that, now that you speak of it?" Elijah asked suddenly, "If I'm not mistaken, a wolf's violent tendencies come out during puberty. It normally happens earlier for girls due to the fact they age faster than boys."

Rebekah hummed in thought. "Well, she's always had a bit of a temper... But, it's been getting worse once she turned eleven... Also, she has come into her powers. Minerva is teaching her witchcraft while we wait for when she needs to renew the spell that protects her. She set a bunch of onions on fire just because a waitress bungled up her sandwich.," she finished with a smile.

Elijah let out a sigh. "Well with Minerva teaching her she should learn to control her powers very quickly. She was a very gifted witch when she was only seventeen, though I never understood her use of a wand."

"She actually got Hope a wand."

"Hmm." He then paused for a moment. "Niklaus is here... I believe he wishes to speak with you."

Rebekah sighed feeling the usual annoyance when it came to dealing with her other brother. "Hello, sister..." he spoke in his usually playful tone.

"Hello Nik..."

His tone then softened. "How is she?"

"Angry, dealing with bullies but doesn't want me to compel them to be nice... Silly wolf pride. She has come into her powers and has your temper... she set onions on fire for no reason." She smiled when Klaus laughed and continued "She has friends. I've met a few of them. She's a bit of a perv... Apparently she watched the Kardashian tape without my knowing... I put a firewall on the computer, but she's a bit of a tech head so she managed to figure it out... She has an arch rival at school and they keep coming up with constant insults, though while Hope is ahead in the insult war, the girl took the lead by starting rumors about her..."

"What sort of rumors?"

"That two boys slept with her so they would get her pregnant and our family would be forced to take care of theirs since they don't have money."

"Really?!"

"Yep..."

"Rebekah, are you sure you don't want to just kill this girl and make it look like an accident?"

"I'm not killing a child, Nik!" Then she huffed. "Though her dick of a teacher on the other hand..."

"What about her teacher?"

"When she nearly got into a fight with the girl, he told her to keep calm due to her 'condition' then gave her detention for a week for going off on him."

Niklaus was quiet, and Klaus was quiet, that meant he was pissed. And when he was pissed, bad things happened. "Where does she attend school?"

"Niklaus, you will not kill her teacher," she heard Elijah say in the background.

"He basically called my daughter a whore and you're asking me not to kill him?" Klaus's voice was full of incredulous fury.

"I'll handle it!" Rebekah said frantically. It would not do for Klaus to make a mess of things as well as find out exactly what type of school she attended. "I'll figure out what to do with him..."

Klaus was still fuming on the other end when a loud hoot from the other Klaus caught their attention. "Is that an owl? Why is it in the house?"

"It's Hope's... did I mention your daughter has weird taste in pets?" She then smiled. "She named it after you."

There was a clear smile in her brother's voice. "Really?"

"Yes. I'll send you a picture of it... it looks just like you: bitchy." She then took a picture of the annoyed looking bird and sent it to Elijah's phone.

"Where is Hope now?" He asked, sounding vulnerable and hopeful all at the same time. "If she knows about you then she knows about the rest of us... What does she know of me?"

"She knows what you are... That you love her. I showed her you and Hayley by going into her mind. She asked me to. I didn't tell her of any of the horrible things you've done, Nik. Those are your stories to tell her..."

Though she couldn't hear it, she knew that he was relieved. "I... I would like to speak with her..."

Now ice water ran through her blood. "She isn't here right now. She is with friends. Apparently they staged an intervention due to the rumors and are having a slumber party to cheer her up as well as plot typical teenage mean girl revenge. I say by noon there shall be photoshopped porn pictures of this girl in a gangbang and her teacher in gay porn..."

Klaus was silent again and Rebekah started to get nervous, but then he spoke. "She may be my child but if she's doing things like that for revenge then it is clear you rubbed off on her..."

"I am the Original Mean Girl after all..."

"And why aren't you giving her pointers if that's the case?"

There was an audible smack as Rebekah facepalmed. "That's a good question... Let me go give those girls a lesson in full on girl war."

"And that's when all of Europe burned to the ground... Goodbye sister."

"Goodbye, Nik." She hung up the phone and went to grab a piece of paper.

Telling Klaus had been a bad move, but hopefully he bought it. However, she had no idea how she was going to keep dodging his requests to speak to Hope until she returned for Christmas. But that was a problem for tomorrow as well as for when she was more sober. Now she had to give her beloved niece some advice on how to handle a bitch Original style.

* * *

It was hours later and Harry had headed up to the common room after dinner. The Gryffindor table had been absent of a loudmouthed American girl. He found Hope sitting in one of the chairs, again her eyes puffy from crying. He couldn't help but feel bad for her. Her first week back was utter Hell. He noticed some charts in her hands that looked like runic symbols and remembered she was taking Ancient Runes. As if noticing she wasn't alone, she lifted her eyes to him and sighed.

"That was my grandmother if you wanted to know," she said and he knew she was talking about the boggart. "Long story short, she's a racist bitch."

Harry blinked at the abrupt way she spoke of it but said nothing, instead he sat down in the chair across from her. They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment but he figured they, at least, had some common ground here aside from their hatred of Slytherin and dementor issues. "My aunt and uncle kept me locked in a cupboard until I was eleven and pretty much starved me. And his sister sometimes sicced her dog on me for the fun of it..."

Hope's eyes lifted from her paper and she arched a brow, mouth falling open. "Your aunt and uncle are douchebags."

"Yep." Harry nodded without hesitation.

She smiled briefly but then it faltered. Thinking back to when she had tried to cheer him up their first night after the dementors, Harry continued. "But, Hope... if anything, you need to focus on something else... and this is the most important thing ever so I want you to listen to me carefully."

Hope set her papers down and leaned forward, giving Harry her full attention. "And what's that?"

Harry leaned forward, looking right into her eyes and spoke with full seriousness. "We got to see Snape in a dress."

Hope blinked. Once. Twice. Her lips pulled into a grin and she fell back into her chair, rolling with laughter. Harry smiled triumphantly, glad she was no longer upset.

"Oh my God, that made day! Neville is my hero after that!"

"After what?"

Both looked up to see the portrait swing open and Neville along with a few other Gryffindors, including Ron, Fred, George, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Colin Creevy. Harry let out a sigh at the sight of Colin. While the boy was nice enough, he was so irritating. Like a loud, chatty shadow.

Hope smiled at Neville and gave him two thumbs up. "Neville! You are my hero! You gave me the best present in the world! Snape in a dress! And knocked up!"

The round faced boy blushed and smiled as the whole common room erupted in applause and people gave him pats on the back. It was clear he wasn't used to such attention since the day he helped put Gryffindor in first place for the House Cup during their first year. "Well he was out of line, saying that about you in class today..."

Hope let out a squeal and rushed up to give the boy a hug. "That was so epic! Thank you!" She then gave him a huge, loud kiss on the cheek.

The boy turned bright red and had a dazed expression on his face and the common room erupted into catcalls and whistles. Hope rolled her eyes and went back to her seat, flopping down as the rest of the room rejoiced in the tale of Snape in a dress and pregnant.

"I wish I could've seen it!" Fred exclaimed as he sat in the seat next to Hope. Harry noticed the girl's cheeks flare up but she didn't say anything. It was reminiscent of how Ginny would turn bright red whenever she saw him.

"It was hilarious!" Ron told them. "If we face a boggart again, Neville, put him in a ball gown!"

"Or a kimono," Hermione suggested.

"Or dirty lingerie," Hope chimed in and everyone groaned in disgust.

"Damn it, Hope! We just ate!" Fred moaned and she grinned.

"That sounds like a personal problem," she quipped.

"Really? So that's how the mother of my child is treating me?" Fred teased and she gasped.

"Really?"

"They were joking about the rumor all day," Lee Jordan explained to her, "The best way to piss off Slytherin is to make fun of what they're trying to do to you."

Hope's face scrunched up in thought and she shrugged. "Okay, well.. if I'm your baby mama then you need to get me some food. I missed dinner."

"That sounds like a personal problem," Fred grinned and she bumped him with her shoulder, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

* * *

Later that night, Hope's rumbling tummy kept her awake. Now that she was over what had happened with the boggart, she was pissed that it kept her from dinner. She wondered if there was a way she could sneak to the kitchen without being caught when someone eased open her dorm door.

"Hope" a voice whispered. "Are you up?"

Hope sat up and grabbed her wand. "Lumos..." a light appeared and she saw the freckled face of Ginny Weasley in her door. "Hey Ginny, what's up?"

The girl scurried to Hope's bed, arms full with something and Hope caught the smell of food and her mouth watered. Ginny brought her food? "Aww Ginny! Thanks. You're so sweet."

Ginny gave her a smile as she set the food on her bed. Roast beef sandwiches, fruit, a small bowl of pudding as well.

"Actually, Fred and George told me to stay up and wait for them when everyone else went to bed. They like to sneak around the school you see. Somehow they went to the kitchens and got me a bunch of extra food. They've been doing it all week after the dementors... but Fred told me to bring you this since you didn't eat at dinner."

Hope's eyes widened and her heart sped up. Suddenly, all of the drama from the day didn't matter. Fred Weasley noticed her! He stole food for her!

"What's going on...?" Parvati's voice asked thick with sleep. The girls turned as they raven haired girl sat up, yawning. There was a muttered incantation and then her wand lit up. "I smell food..."

The other girls also woke up as well and then Hermione's voice came I the darkness. "Ginny, did you sneak in the kitchen to get food?" she said disapprovingly. Was it Hope's imagination or was Crookshanks looking at them disapprovingly as well?

"No, Fred and George did and Fred told me to give this to her since she didn't eat."

"Ohhhh..." Lavender cheered while Parvati's mouth fell open in giddy delight.

"Well that's very nice of them it's still not an excuse for them to-" Hermione began but Hope cut her off.

"Hermione, don't rain on my hot guy parade!" She then covered her mouth when she saw Ginny's eyes widen in giddy surprise. "Ahh crap..."

"You like my brother? Which one?"

"Fred." Lavender and Parvati said simultaneously.

"Big mouths!" Hope yelled but went back to her food. The roast beef sandwich was so good! Did he make it for her?

Hermione huffed but turned her wand off, laying back down.

"I won't say anything..." Ginny smirked as she left to head back to the second year girls' dorm.

Hope's face burned with embarrassment as she ate, pointedly ignoring the smirks from Lavender and Parvati. "Go to bed... We got classes tomorrow."

The two giggled and their wands went off. Hope ate until her fill and set the remaining fruit on and cookies in her case. Full and happy she shut her wand light off and snuggled back into her comfy bed, feeling much better. Now she was able to get a good night's sleep.

* * *

That next morning Hope woke up with a bright smile on her face. She practically sang as she scrubbed and got dressed for her day. Hermione still shot her disapproving looks but she ignored them. Though honestly that girl needed to lighten up!

At breakfast, she noticed people were whispering when she walked in but not as much as yesterday. Padma was already down when she noticed Hope and ran over to her. "Hope, how are you? Parvati told me about what happened in Potions. I can't believe they would do that!"

"I can..." another Ravenclaw said calmly. They both turned to see a blonde girl at the table and Hope had to blink for a moment. Was she wearing turnips for earrings?

"The Slytherins aren't very nice, and reputation is everything for them so they think it is for everyone. They are quite snobbish."

Hope arched her brow at Padma who let out a long breath through her nose. "This is Luna Lovegood."

"And you're Hope Mitchell," the girl said calmly, staring at her in a way that reminded her of the stoners she would see in Chicago.

Another girl came up to the group, also Ravenclaw, a pretty Asian girl. "Hi... Hope. I'm Cho. How are you?"

"Erm... hi. I'm good."

The girl gave her a small that seemed almost like pity. Did she believe that crap from yesterday? And here she thought the Ravenclaws were smart. "I'm... going to go to my table."

"Oh, of course. Well, it was nice meeting you." Cho went back to the Ravenclaw table with a group of fourth years who began whispering excitedly once she sat down.

Hope turned to Padma and arched a brow, "The hell?"

Padma just shrugged but sat down as well. Hope went to move but Luna's breezy voice stopped her. "They only believe it because their own lives are mundane and once something more interesting happens, they'll forget."

Hope was starting to like this girl. "Yeah, you're right." She moved to sit down at the Gryffindor table and noticed the slight dumbstruck look on Harry's face. She looked in the direction he was looking and noticed he was staring at the Asian girl, Cho, like she was Venus rising from the sea or something. "You want to stare a little harder? She's probably not feeling it yet..."

Harry jumped and flushed and Hope grinned. "I... I wasn't..."

"Uh-huh... any old lie will do," she smirked as she dove into her food.

Harry gave a huff and went back to his meal. There was a snicker coming from his left and he glared at Ron. "Shut up..."

Another set of Weasleys sat down and this time it was Hope who flushed. "Hi Fred... Thanks for the food last night."

The boy gave her a smile and a pat on the back. "Well of course, you're eating for two now."

Hope rolled her eyes and went back to her food but stopped when the familiar sound of the owls came delivering the mail. She brightened considerably when she saw Niklaus zooming toward her. The large owl landed in her plate, giving her a nip on the finger. She figured that was his version of a greeting kiss. He stuck out his foot which had a note attached to and she eagerly grabbed it.

_Hope,_

_I probably shouldn't be writing this letter after seven glasses of wine but I wanted to let you know I got your message. Although the very first thing I wanted to do was go to you school rip those little twits and that asshole of a teacher to shreds, I realized that would be bad. Also, I know you and while you might not realize it, you would resent me getting involved. Maybe not with the teacher, but with the students. Now, that doesn't mean I can't give you a bit of advice from the Original Mean Girl herself. Make that little bitch suffer. She is only picking on you because she is weak. Find her weakness, exploit it, tear her down. Publicly if you can. _

_Love, Auntie Bex._

_P.S. Don't do anything tacky like date her boyfriend. But, a little divide and conquer is always fun. Also ruining her reputation right back. _

_P.P.S Your friends can come over but just for a day. _

Hope blinked at the letter, hardly believing what she was seeing. Did her aunt really just give her the OK to go full bitch-mode on Pansy? Oh, this was going to be fun! She happily pulled out one of her paperbacks and began to read.

"Is that a book on child birth, Mitchell?" Pansy's voice called as she and her group of Slytherin girls walked past.

Hope fumed a bit but gave them a smile. "Why? Wanted to borrow it for the day you spread em' for Malfoy so you can trap him into a marriage? With that face, it's the only way you'd do it."

There was choke and sputter and Hope looked up to see Harry choking and coughing on his pumpkin juice while Ron was staring with his jaw dropped. George and Fred looked at each other and grinned while Hermione sighed and ducked her head. Pansy fumed and stormed over to the Gryffindor table, looking ready to kill when Hope widened her eyes in mock fright and latched onto George's arm who was sitting next to her. "Ohmigod, she's going to hit a pregnant woman."

The Gryffindor table erupted into laughs while Pansy glared daggers at them before whirling on her foot. She started to walk away when Hope called out. "Parkinson!" The girl stopped and looked back at her, her sneer faltering a bit at the malicious smile the Gryffindor gave her. It was gone in an instant, replaced by a look of the deepest loathing and she mouthed "Game on."

* * *

It was later on that day when Hope's saving grace came in the form of her Ancient Runes class. Of course, she found Hermione in the class and the bushy haired girl looked a bit surprised to see her there. She was also there with a few Ravenclaw students and she grinned when she saw Padma and ran over to sit next to her.

"I'm so glad we have a class. I've missed you. I barely see you except on the train and in the halls," Padma said as Hope sat down. "Don't worry. It'll blow over."

Hope thought about the incident last year when everyone thought Harry Potter was the one letting out the Chamber of Secrets monster even though it wasn't true. "Are you sure? What about last year when-"

"That was because Harry was a Parselmouth, Hope. But, whenever Slytherin stars a rumor about a pregnant girl, no one listens."

Hermione gave a small sigh from behind them. "Yes, but... she was already going to Madam Pomfrey for..." she glanced at Hope and the girl shrugged, giving her permission and Hermione continued, "she hadn't gotten her period at all, as in not once. But Malfoy heard her speak to the nurse about it."

"And Snape didn't make it any better telling me to 'Keep my temper in check with my condition'" Hope hissed and the other girl looked shocked but Hope continued. "But whatever, I'll make Pansy pay..."

"Hope," Hermione started and Hope rolled her eyes. "Hope. Whatever it is you're thinking of doing to Parkinson, don't. All you'll do is get in trouble, and you'll lose Gryffindor points. I know what she did was wrong but-"

"Hermione, I left my mama in America. Get off my back." Hope ignored the huff from behind her and turned to Padma. "My aunt wrote me back, she said it's cool for you all to stay for a day during break."

At that Padma perked up. "Oh, I owled my parents about spending a day with you during the holidays. They said it was all right."

That brightened Hope's mood considerably. "Sweet! Wait until you get a load of video games! I can't wait to teach you how to play Pokemon!"

The teacher asked them to take out their books while she began writing some things on the board. When Hope opened the book, she was delighted that most of the stuff she already knew from Rebekah's hard lessons over the summer.

"Good afternoon, class!" the teacher, Professor Babbling, began. "Welcome to Study of Ancient Runes. Now, who here can tell me what runes are?"

Hermione's hand shot up but Hope's did as well which had Padma arching her brows. In the few classes she had with the Gryffindor, she barely got a word in edge wise due to Hermione always raising her hand. And even though it wasn't for Ravenclaw, it was nice seeing someone else, especially her friend, answer a question. Particularly after the week she had.

"You there," the professor said pointing to Hope.

"Runes are an ancient Germanic alphabet, used for writing, divination and magick. They were used throughout northern Europe, Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Iceland from about 100 B.C.E. to 1600 C.E." Hope said and Padma could see the self-satisfied turn of Hope's lips as well as Hermione looking a bit put out.

"Excellent. Five points to Gryffindor. Can anyone tell me where else runes have been discovered?" the professor asked and Hope's hand shot up again. "Yes?"

"North America. They were there long before Columbus "discovered" anything," Hope said and used finger quotes as well when speaking of Columbus. A few students did not know what she spoke of due to being unfamiliar with muggle facts but it seemed the professor did for she nodded in approval.

"Wonderful. What is your name, Miss?"

"Hope Mitchell."

"Well done. Another five points." She began writing runes on the board. "Can anyone tell me what the word 'rune' means?"

This time Padma raised her hand just as Hope started to, but then lowered it, giving her friend and smile. "Yes?"

"Rune means 'mystery, secret and whisper'" Padma explained and was delighted when she received five points for Ravenclaw. There was an irritated huff from behind them, indicating Hermione was not pleased about something.

The rest of the class went by smoothly as well as wonderfully for Gryffindor which received twenty-five points by the end of the lesson, though not one of them had come from Hermione answering a single question.

As they made their way down the halls, Padma gave Hope a bump with her shoulder. "You knew that question, but let me answer it anyway?"

"Ehh, my arm was getting tired," Hope said lazily but Padma smiled.

"Thanks."

Another irritated huff sounded from behind them and Hope rolled her eyes. Hermione made her way past them, nose in the air. Padma blinked but Hope just gave a half smile. "I think she's mad..."

* * *

They had a bit of time before dinner and most of Gryffindor was back in the common room. Inside the common room, Hope was barely listening to Parvati and Lavender as they went on about some more garbage Trelwaney had told them. Naturally, this led to Hope trolling them.

"So, can you tell me the lotto numbers for when I go back to America when I graduate? I'd really like a mansion."

From across the room they heard Fey snickering. Parvati and Lavender scowled at her.

"Seriously, Hope. You would think with what your cup said about you, you would take this a bit more serious."

"I'm not taking any teacher serious who doesn't even teach tarot cards. Or runes..." She then stiffened. "Not that I want her teaching runes... I like runes. Don't let her give me a reason to hate it."

"Speaking of runes," Parvati said suddenly, "Padma told me about how you let her answer the question in Runes class."

Hope opened her mouth but there was another huff coming from a spot by the fire. The girls looked over at Hermione who was busily petting Crookshanks with her nose in the air. Hope had enough of it and considering their were no teachers around, she let loose.

"Did you fart, Hermione. Is that why your nose is in the air?"

A few people snickered and Hermione just turned to face Hope, already used to her crudeness. "I don't see why you denied Gryffindor more points, is all. You clearly knew the answer but you let her have it."

Now Hope rolled her eyes. "Is that why you're mad? I let Ravenclaw have some points?" From the corner of her eye she noticed Fred and George coming into the common room and she fought the urge to smirk as the words that came out of her mouth. "So, I let Ravenclaw have some points. So what? Considering we're going to totally run them over in Quidditch at the match, does it really matter?"

The common room gave a cheer and a few claps, mostly coming from the team itself. "That's our girl!" Fred cried happily, plucking Hope up and spinning her around. The girl squealed and blushed happily, noticing the teasing smiles from Parvati and Lavender.

"Fred, put her down. What about morning sickness?" George fake scolded and Hope rolled her eyes. It seemed the two had taken to making a big joke out of the pregnancy scandal which was the best way to diffuse it as well as Slytherin's ammo. figuring the best way to gain Fred's attention was to roll with the goofiness.

"Fred, I'm having a craving. Get me some chocolate and pickles."

"Anything for the mother of my child."

"Thanks, baby daddy."

"You all are mental!" Ron moaned from his seat while the surrounding people burst into laughter.

It was at that moment that Crookshanks had sprang from Hermione's lap and latched itself onto Ron's chest. The boy screamed and fell back and something jumped from his robes. Parvati screamed as Ron's rat Scabbers ran over her foot and then Hermione's cat almost tripped her up as he chased the rodent down.

"Catch that cat!" Ron yelled.

Hope bent down and grabbed the frightened rat by the tail, her face quenching in disgust. "Ron, you're lucky I like you because I don't pick up rats for just anybody!" The orange cat ran up to her and his hair stood on end as he hissed at the rat she held in her grip but seemed to know better than to tackle her. Hope simply glared the animal down. "Don't you hiss at me, Garfield, I will kick you. Try something."

Hermione rushed forward and grabbed the cat out of harm's way though it kept hissing at Hope who was still holding the rat. Ron stood and took the rat from Hope, glaring daggers at Hermione. "I told you to keep that cat away from Scabbers!"

Hermione simply huffed. "Ron, he doesn't know that it's wrong!" She then whirled on Hope. "And I can't believe you would kick a defenseless animal!"

"I didn't kick him, I just said I would if it did anything like try to scratch me."

"Hope forget it, she clearly cares more about that cat than people or their pets!" Ron spat as he angrily made his way to the boy's dormitories.

Hermione huffed but turned back to Hope. "Still, Hope, back to the matter of-"

"Save it, Hermione!" Hope snapped, fed up with the girl. "I let Padma answer a question. So what? You couldn't even let Harry answer a question even though the teacher called on him and not you. Is that why you're mad? Because I let Padma have it and not you? How dehydrated for attention are you? Well, I'm sorry I know how to let my friends have chances as well because I'm not an insecure spaz. Or are you mad because when I wasn't letting Padma answer a question I was answering them all?"

"Oh Hell..." Seamus muttered to Dean. "This isn't going to be pretty..."

Hermione stiffened, Hope's words striking something deep. "I would have thought you'd had more than enough attention this week, Hope" the girl retorted nastily.

"And you didn't get enough... You mad, bro?" Hope sneered, flopping back into her seat.

"Hope, Padma told me we can come over to your home during Christmas holidays." Parvati said too cheerily, in an attempt to diffuse things. The common room had gone quiet while the two girls argued.

Hope turned her baleful glare away from Hermione and smiled at her friend. "Oh right... Auntie Bex also wrote back to me on the Slytherin thing. She basically said 'girl war' on Pansy. This is going to be fun."

Parvati arched her brows and opened her mouth to speak when Hermione's voice stopped her. "Well that sounds like horrible parental behavior. But considering the way you act at times, it's not much of a surprise."

Hope's eyes popped and she sprang from the chair. She didn't go for her wand which was sitting on the chair. It was if her anger was made of coils and she was nothing but a puppet. Her fingers curled into a fist and there was a loud crack as it connected with Hermione's eye. Crookshanks flew out of her grip and the cat screeched. The girl cried out as she fell back, clenching her face. Hope moved to spring but she was suddenly being restrained by many pairs of arms. Katie was helping Hermione up who was holding her face, tears streaming and one of her eyes swelling up rapidly. Hope glared down at her, mouth tight and breathing angrily through her nose, looking much like a bull ready to charge.

"Hope, calm down!" she heard Parvati cry but she still struggled to get free from the people holding her, screaming at the shaking Hermione.

"Don't talk shit about my family, you basic bitch!"

"I'll take her to Madam Pomfrey," Katie said and hurriedly led Hermione out of the common room, Harry following after them. He stopped to give Hope look of pure shock that she felt right to her toes.

Once they were gone, Hope took deep, ragged breaths, the cool air in her lungs helping to bring her down somewhat from her rage high. She swallowed, forced the fire and smoke from her brain and turned her head to look at the ones holding her. It was George, Fred and Seamus. They let her go once Hermione was out of the room. She sat back in her seat and gripped her knees tightly, taking breaths to calm herself.

"Hope!" Another voice called and everyone looked up and Fred and George groaned. It was Percy, their brother and Head Boy. "I just saw Hermione, Katie and Harry and Hermione told me you hit her!"

"The bitch was asking for it," she said, not giving two shits if he was Head Boy.

Percy's mouth dropped open at her language. "Fifteen points from Gryffindor, Hope! That's ten for fighting, and another five for using language like, especially a lady."

Hope huffed and just went back to watching the fire. Her rage was almost as hot as the flames but she fought to calm it. It seemed this was just not her week. She could hear the muttering of the people in the common room and wished nothing more than for them to scram. Parvati seemed to anticipate this and she went to sit somewhere else. Fred and George had also left but she was too mad to care. One by one everyone was leaving her alone, except for one orange cat that stood in front of her, back arched, fur on end and hissing.

Her blue eyes narrowed and she leaned forward, staring the cat down and as all of her rage from the week nearly reached its boiling point.

She spoke low, her voice a razor's edge. "I will throw you in the fire... Keep hissing at me."

It seemed Crookshanks was a lot smarter than his master and knew better that pick a fight with her and she felt her rage calm a bit as the cat left.

That rage was replaced by revulsion.

She really would have killed the cat. She really would have. And she loved animals... What was happening to her?

**Okay, you might all be wondering why was Hope being such a bitch to Hermione? Well, unactivated wolf... Meaning, like how an activated wolf will instinctively go after vampires but kill humans if they are around, Hope's initial target was Pansy as well as Draco and Snape but they weren't around so she focused her wrath on the most irritating thing in the vicinity which was Hermione. Plus, she's a thirteen year old girl raised by the Original Mean Girl... she's got the bitch gene regardless of if she's a wolf or not. And as for the fight... I honestly don't know where that came from. Also, no worries people the story is Hope and Harry and I know it seems like there isn't much of Harry at the moment but there will be. As for her crush on Fred and their banter, will they are jokesters and in classic Vampire Diaries style, we have to have some awkward teen romances on both sides first. :D  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Originals. They both belong to respective copyright holders.**

**A.N: Okay, so after the last episode of Originals, the idea for where I want this story to go kind of went ker-thunk, but I have decided that I will continue on as had planned.**

**Warnings: General thirteen year old hairbrained schemes and pettiness**.

That night, Hope had stayed by the fire when everyone else had gone to bed. She did not trust herself to be near the other girl. Not when she had been sorely tempted to kill her cat just on principle. She had curled up in one of the squishy chairs and fell asleep there. Oddly enough no one bothered her. Probably too scared to confront out of fear that she would deck them as well.

The next day, the whole school seemed to have heard about Hope decking Hermione. Where ever she passed, people would whisper. Normally a fight wouldn't be that big of a deal but considering the gossip already surrounding Hope, the school ate it up. She noticed a group of Ravenclaw girls whispering. One of them was that pretty Asian girl she had seen Harry ogling and she rolled her eyes. Padma had given her a look of concern and made a motion to speak with her during breakfast. Neville, Seamus and Dean had quickly averted their eyes when they passed her and Ron had given her a look of pure wrath that she couldn't help but feeling irritated about.

"Wow. Really?" she fumed to herself as she watched the youngest Weasley boy's retreating back.

Thank God it was the weekend. She only had a detention. Granted, it was cleaning the chandeliers throughout the school... which she had done many times for tripping Filch in the hallway and firing spitballs at him during her first year. She smiled to herself. Good times.

She had been making her way to the Great Hall when a group of Slytherin third years rounded the corner. They did not see her and she had no desire to deal with them at the moment so she hung back as they walked ahead of her. They seemed to be chattering about Potions when one of the boys changed the subject.

"Hey, did you hear what happened with the Gryffindor girls last night?" Theodore Nott asked Malfoy.

Malfoy shook his head and the other boy continued. "Apparently Mitchell punched Mud-blood Granger in the face."

Hope froze and ducked behind a pillar when Draco stopped short and turned to the other boy. She could see his profile and his mouth had fallen open in shock before widening into a grin. "You're joking..."

"Must've been the pregnancy hormones..." Pansy smirked but then the smirk faltered when Draco did not laugh at her quip.

"Who told you this?" Draco asked the other boy, ignoring Pansy.

"One of the Ravenclaw girls was talking about it in my Arithmancy class. Said the Gryffindor Patil had to hold Mitchell back after decking the Mud-blood in the face. Sent her flying. Called her a 'basic bitch', whatever that means."

"Probably some stupid Yank slang," Pansy had said dismissively but Draco still wasn't paying attention to her. Pansy now huffed.

"Mitchell was apparently beating her in Ancient Runes, and she let the Ravenclaw Patil answer a question and Granger didn't answer any. So she had a row with her about not letting Gryffindor get all the points. Mitchell called her 'dehydrated for attention', then there was something about a letter from her family and Granger insulted her aunt and that's when Mitchell punched her."

Now Draco scoffed. "Like that mud-blood has any room to talk of anyone with actual wizard blood, even if it is that surly American bitch."

Was Hope's hearing playing tricks on her, or was that Draco's fucked up way of sticking up for her. She didn't have time to ponder on it though as they made their way to lunch. She hung back a bit and waited until they were well out of the way.

"Mitchell!"

Hope froze and slowly turned, stomach dropping at the sight of McGonagall storming towards her. Her lips were in a thin line and her eyes were furious behind her glasses. "Yes, Professor..." she chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw, to her humiliation, that the Slytherins had turned around to watch.

"What is this I hear about _punching_ Miss Granger in the common room last night? "

Hope felt her face burn and that familiar wrath wrapped around her like an old comfy blanket she could never be without. "She was being snotty so I hit her."

There was a small gasp from some of the Slytherins behind her. The woman's brows rose at Hope's indifferent tone. "Your Head Boy Mr. Weasley has already punished you by taking off points, but you will serve a detention for your violent outburst! Fighting like a muggle in the middle of the common room! And as for this upcoming Hogsmeade trip you are banned!"

Hope scoffed in outrage. "She was being a cow and talking crap about my family and I'm the one who gets punished? She said Aunt Bex was a lousy parent! I thought she was your friend!"

"Ten points from Gryffindor for speaking to me like that, Mitchell. Go to breakfast!"

Hope whirled on one foot and stormed down the hall, pushing through the group of Slytherins who stood gawking. This was so unfair! Why did everyone love that little bitch so much!? She stormed to the Great Hall, grabbed a plate full of food and did not even bother to sit down. She just took it back upstairs to the common room and ate there alone. She did not want to be around anyone today. Besides, Parvati and Lavender wouldn't be there. They were in Trelawney's classroom, learning to be good little fake California psychics. And she didn't want to deal with everyone looking at her as if she were some sort of monster.

When the portrait swung open, the girl tensed and glanced up from the corner of her eye. It was Harry, Granger's bff. She was so not in the mood.

"Okay, look I just got detention from McGonagall even though your bestie insulted my aunt who is _supposed_ to be her friend and Ron just gave me the bitch-face earlier even though I saved his rat from the cat in the first place, I really don't need any crap from you too. So if you're going to tell me I shouldn't have hit her, then don't waste your breath or my time."

Harry's brows rose at her curt tone and he simply folded his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at her. "I was only coming up to do my Transfiguration homework."

Hope flushed with embarrassment and sighed, scooting the plate off of her lap. She was no longer hungry. "Sorry..."

Harry regarded her for a moment and then sighed and sat across from her. While he was angry at her for hitting his friend, he saw where she was coming from. Of course he never said it to Hermione, who wailed the entire way to the hospital ward, or to Ron who suddenly forgot his anger with Hermione once he heard about the fight and now viewed Hope as a loose cannon. "I can't exactly get upset at you, Hope... considering I did the same thing over the summer..."

Hope glanced back up and arched a brow. "You punched Hermione in the face?

"No!" Harry scowled. "My uncle's sister, Aunt Marge," his lip curled in revulsion and wrath, remembering what the dreadful woman had said about his parents. "She insulted my mother and father and lost my temper. I blew her up. Not like an explosion!" he said quickly when her mouth fell open, "but like a balloon. She... inflated and sort of floated to the ceiling... Then I left the house and had to take the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley. I stayed there for weeks until the term started." He then gave a one shouldered shrug, "So, I understand you punching Hermione after she said that about your aunt."

Hope gave him a sheepish smile that faltered. "My aunt's the only family I have. She's raised me since I was a baby. I never knew my parents and my grandmother's an evil cow. My aunt's been awesome and then Hermione has the nerve to say that my aunt's a bad parent? I'm not apologizing for hitting her if that's what people are waiting for me to do."

Harry decided it was time for a subject change. "Why aren't you at breakfast?" he asked then gave her a small smirk. "I think Fred missed his fan club."

Hope's head snapped up and her face flushed deep red. "You know about that?"

Harry's smirk widened and he felt the need to tease her as she had done to him. He pitched his voice low and did a rather good impersonation of Scar from _The Lion King._ "Simba, everybody knows about that..."

The girl let out a disbelieving laugh and balled up a piece of parchment and threw it at him, that he easily dodged. "Well, not everyone..." Harry said "But it's pretty obvious... though I don't think he's noticed yet."

"You mean like how the hot Asian Ravenclaw hasn't noticed your perfect imitation of a stoplight whenever you look at her?"

Now Harry's face flushed. Okay, she earned that one. He decided to change the subject to safer topics. "What did your aunt say about what Slytherin did?"

The girl grinned wider. "Full on girl war on Parkinson. She even gave me pointers. She wanted to come up here and beat the snot out of Snape but she said that'd be a bad idea. Oh my God, if she did I would've handed out tickets and candy!"

"Would I have gotten a ticket?"

"Front row, center."

The two smiled widely at each other before she went back to her breakfast. "Hey, Harry? What did your boggart turn into?" she asked.

"I didn't get to face it. Lupin stopped me."

She stopped chewing and looked confused. "Why?"

Harry shrugged. "No idea."

Hope shrugged then looked at her watch. "Ugh... I gotta get to detention."

Now Harry's face darkened. "I still can't believe you got detention after he made you sound like a... a..."

Her brows arched in amusement. "A slut bunny?" When he shrugged sheepishly she laughed. "Oh, I'll figure up something for him. Honestly, I think he did it because even fake rumors are more action than he'll ever get. I mean, c'mon! Let's imagine him getting it on with some poor unfortunate woman and see how horrid that turns out."

Unwillingly, Harry's mind imagined Snape hovering over a faceless woman and he screwed eyes shut, battling against the image. "Gross, Hope! I just ate!"

Now Hope was giggling uncontrollably and she turned herself so she was sitting horizontally in the chair. "And think of the poor woman!" She rose her arms like she was cradling an invisible figure on top of her and let out a overly dramatic sigh then began to make sounds of moaning mixed with retching.

Harry now had tears falling from his eyes, he was laughing so hard. He clutched his sides and almost fell from his chair. "That's disgusting!"

Hope righted herself and then stood. "Welp, I'm off to detention. Thanks for the giggles. I needed that." She left the common room and Harry thought for a moment he heard the Fat Lady snickering in her portrait.

* * *

Her detention was spent, like many others, polishing the school's chandelier. As she stood on the ladder, with an annoying Filch beneath her and that damned Mrs. Norris, she heard the sound of female snickering and rolled her eyes at the sight of Pansy and her herd of cows. "Should a pregnant girl be doing such tasks?"

Hope fumed as the girl's laughter trailed behind them but kept up with the task. It was the most irritating work ever, especially with that irritating douche Filch muttering about how he would've loved to whip students. She'd love to see him try it with her.

After an immensely long while, and more jeers from passing students, mostly Slytherins, she had finally finished her work and was allowed to head to dinner. She hadn't had lunch and she was starving.

At dinner, Hermione made it a point to sit as far away from Hope as possible. She didn't mind, she had Parvati and Lavender who tried to talk about anything and everything to keep Hope's already formidable temper in check. It wasn't easy though. Her nerves were on end due to the fact people would glance at her and whisper, some none too quietly.

"Did you hear?"

"Mitchell punched Hermione Granger last night."

"Why?"

"I don't know. She's always been a loose cannon."

She'd gladly show them a loose cannon if they didn't shut up. And why couldn't what happened in the common room stay in the common room? Why did these no lives have to spread every single thing? Believe every single thing? She glanced at the direction of the whispers and saw it was from Ravenclaw table. As much as she loved Padma, sometimes the rest of her house worked her nerves!

"Hope, calm down. I'm sure it'll blow over..." Lavender said soothingly then thought about something. "Though, your cup did say trouble was coming and-"

"Lavender, just don't."

Lavender huffed and went to her meal, not saying another word. Hope went back to her food as well when someone made their way over to her. It was Padma.

"Hope, guess what I heard?"

"That I decked Hermione. Yeah, I did it."

"No, I already know about that. But, I heard something in the bathroom." She pulled Hope out of her seat and tugged her to a corner. "Pansy Parkinson was complaining to Millicent Blustrode and Daphne Greengrass. Apparently Draco Malfoy found the fact that you punched Hermione very funny and he's been giggling about it non-stop."

Hope glanced over her shoulder and on cue, Draco pretended to throw a punch with his good arm and then made a loud squeal as Hermione passed by, red in the face. Hope shrugged and turned back to her friend. "So? He hates her because she's muggle born and I'm a half blood since my grandma was a witch. He's probably picking what he figures is the lesser of two purist evils."

Padma shrugged but then continued. "That's probably true, but Daphne Greengrass kept telling Pansy 'not to worry about it' and 'she's nothing compared to you' and a bunch of other rubbish. Don't you see?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Pansy's afraid Draco fancies you."

Hope's eyes popped and she looked over her shoulder again at the blond boy and shuddered. "Ugh! No way!" Then, unbidden, her aunt's words came into her mind.

_Don't do anything tacky like date her boyfriend. But a little divide and conquer is always fun. _

Now a smile played on her lips. "Hmm..."

Padma's eyes widened at the positively evil look that took over her Gryffindor friend's face. "Hope... No! You can't be thinking of going after Malfoy. That's disgusting! He's disgusting!" She then paused to think. "Well, not physically. He is rather handsome, but he's such a-"

"A douchebag, I know." Hope then arched a brow. "You think Malfoy's cute?"

"Well of course. I have eyes but he's still a prat."

"I'm not going to date him... but... I will get him to pay attention to me in front of Pansy... It'll mess her up."

Padma sighed and shook her head, seemingly giving up. "Considering what they said about you... if you break them up it'll serve her right. Those purists are intent on making popular pure blood matches, and Pansy's had her eyes set on Malfoy for the longest. It might even discredit her in purist society if she loses him."

The thought of Pansy the Pain being a pariah gave Hope a sick feeling of glee. "Oh yeah. It's on. Now I'm going to walk you back to your table. Pretend we're talking about something else."

Padma shook her head but played along. The two walked to the Ravenclaw table, chattering about something Padma had read in Witch Weekly. Padma sat back down, on the side closest to the Slytherin table. Hope chatted with her a bit while glancing to see where Draco was. He was snickering with Crabbe and Goyle and she noticed that he glanced at Hope before turning back to his friends, throwing another mock punch and squealing. Pansy's smile seemed forced much to Hope's amusement.

"Well I'm going to head back to my table. Later."

She left the girl and had to pass by Draco's group to get to her table and made certain to throw a bit of a sway to her hips just because she could. She didn't acknowledge him, just made her way to her table and sat. She went back to her plate to find Lavender giving her an amused look. "What?"

"Was the hip show for Fred? Because I don't think he saw it..." She gestured to the boy who was busily talking with George and Lee about Quidditch teams. Hope felt a bit of her ego deflate even though the show hadn't been for him.

"But Malfoy certainly noticed it..." Parvati whispered and then grinned. "And so did Parkinson..."

Hope looked over her shoulder and her mouth dropped open when she saw Pansy shoot up from the Slytherin table and stalk out of the Great Hall her face red with anger. Millicent and Daphne followed after her, leaving a confused Draco sitting with his friends who all shrugged when he turned to them.

Hope turned back to her meal, giant smirk on her face. Let the games begin.

* * *

In the days that followed the scene in the common room, the relationship between Hermione and Hope had blown into full on loathing. During classes they made certain to sit on opposite ends of the room and in their dorm they went to bed without speaking. And it seemed that Hope's jab at Hermione about needing attention had struck a nerve with her as in her classes she made it a point to try to beat Hope at answering questions and was able to get away with it mostly accept in Ancient Runes where Hope's lightning hand and firsthand knowledge of Vikings and runic reigned supreme much to the bushy haired girl's ire.

In Divination, she no longer sat with Hermione and had taken to working with Neville. She tried her best to do the work but it was hard to take seriously with the professor always bursting into tears whenever she saw Harry. And speaking of that class, as much as she loved Parvati and Lavender, they were getting really annoying when it came to predictions. And seriously? How were you supposed to have a Divination class with no tarot? She had written about that to her aunt as well as the fight and had been pleasantly surprised when Niklaus flew into the Hall during breakfast with a parcel and she had received a shiny new pack of tarot cards as well as a bag of onyx runestones. Though, she made a point never to take them out during the class. That's the last thing she needed. She would learn actual Divination on her own terms.

During Potions, Snape was worse than before. He made it a point to pick on either Neville or Hope in the class. The poor boy wilted under the pressure while Hope vowed to make the man pay. However, he new tactic was working like a charm. Pansy kept giving her looks of pure loathing when before there had been jeering. And then once when Snape had left the class to speak with another teacher, Pansy had made another pregnancy crack at her to which Hope calmly retorted "Is that the only reason you can think of why my rack is better than yours?"

And she noticed Draco's pale eyes drift to her frontal area and Pansy noticed too and she was silent throughout the rest of the class, seething. Parvati and Lavender could not stop giggling behind their cauldrons.

Also, to her immense displeasure as the weeks passed, Fred Weasley wasn't really speaking with her as much. She wondered if Ron's anger at her punching Hermione had spread to his brothers as well but found that wasn't the case as she still easily got along with George though he was a bit distant. Her answer came in the form of Quidditch rearing its head. Training was to start soon so she figured it would take up a nice amount of every player's time. Besides she had her own work to worry about.

It also seemed that Ron decided he wanted to speak with her again, but it was only when Crookshanks tried to eat Scabbers again and now he wasn't talking to Hermione. He was frosty toward her all throughout Herbology as well as Transfiguration.

That day, Hope had gotten to Transfiguration early and was amusing herself by trying and failing at origami when Parvati came in with a sobbing Lavender.

"Hey..." she cleared away the paper and rushed to her friend. "What happened? Do I have to hex somebody? Or do you want a good old fashioned curb stomp?"

The girl let out a weak laugh and then sobbed harder. Hope looked helplessly at Parvati for answers.

"Her rabbit, Binky, was killed by a fox."

Hope hissed in sympathy and put an arm around her. "Awww... I'm sorry..."

"Professor Trelawney said that what would happen, the thing that I was dreading would happen today!" Lavender moaned and Hope arched a brow at Parvati. She usually tuned out at these parts so she had no idea what was going on.

"Professor Trelawney said that what would happen, that she dreaded the most, was happening today and that's when she got the letter..." Parvati whispered and people around her all froze.

_Wow, you're all stupid..._ But Hope refrained from saying that, considering her friend was in mourning.

"But..." Hermione began and Hope felt a vein twitch. "Was Binky an old rabbit?"

"No! He was a baby!" Lavender cried.

"Then... it doesn't stand to reason that you would dread him dying... And it probably happened days ago and you just got the letter today meaning it didn't happen today. If you look at it logically-"

"Oh my God, you are like Satan's get well card!" Hope hissed at Hermione as Parvati glared at the bushy haired girl. Lavender was sobbing louder between them.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the girl and opened her mouth to retort when Ron's voice sounded loudly. "Well, we all know she doesn't think other people's pets matter so I don't know why you're surprised, Hope."

Hope smirked at Hermione who shot Ron a poisonous look. "Oooh. Shots fired!"

Hermione whirled back on Hope. "You intolerable instigator! I swear Hope, your are the most-"

"Oh, you're the least!"

"Should we stop this?" Seamus whispered to Dean.

"I'm not getting in the middle of a fight between girls..." the other boy muttered back. "They're scary..."

Harry, who honestly couldn't care less about two fire breathing girls, sat quietly as they waited for McGonagall. The Hogsmeade weekend was coming up and his permission slip hadn't been signed. Harry, in his wrath at what Aunt Marge had said about his parents, had stormed out of the house after inflating the insufferable woman like a balloon. But, now that he was here and everyone was going to be going, he figured he would try to ask McGonagall if he could go. It was probably pointless, but he still had to try. Hopefully she was in a good mood.

Though she probably wouldn't be if she came in the class to witness Hermione and Hope going at it like cats.

"Er... guys," Harry said, "you might want to calm down before Professor McGonagall comes in..."

The girls both froze and sat down as right at that moment Professor McGonagall walked in. However after the lesson was over and he tried to ask permission, he was shot down as expected.

"No form, no visiting the village. That's the rule," the stern woman told him.

"But... my aunt and uncle, they're muggles. They don't understand about... Hogwarts forms and stuff," Harry said while Ron gave encouraging nods. "If you said I could go..."

"But I don't say so," said Professor McGonagall. "The form states that the parent or guardian must give permission. I'm sorry, Potter, but that's my final word."

* * *

When Halloween weekend came, the two stood with the others to say good bye as well as smile when their friends promised the ridiculous amounts of sweets from Honeydukes. Hope wasn't too put out, having been denied many field trips either by her aunt punishing her or a school board punishing her but Harry looked like someone drowned a puppy in front of him

"Hey, don't worry about it... I'm not going either..." she then thought about it, "Well, I'm not going to the first one. Auntie signed my form but McGonagall said I can't visit because of fighting."

"Hey, Weasley, make sure you bring her back a lot of sweets for the cravings!" Pansy jeered at Fred as they stood in line for the Hogsmeade trip. Filch didn't see the middle finger he flipped her over his shoulder.

"Like he could afford them. He'd be lucky enough to buy her a sprinkle!" Draco quipped then turned to Harry. "Not going, Potter? Scared of the dementors?"

Harry and Hope both glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. Hope was trying to be on her best behavior so she wouldn't be banned from the next ones while Harry just wasn't in the mood.

"We'll bring you back a load of sweets, Hope."

Hope smiled at Parvati and Padma before giving the Ravenclaw a playful nudge while gesturing to a certain tall and handsome Hufflepuff. "Just woman up and tell Diggory you like him and you don't have to buy me a thing."

The girl flushed then scoffed. "I'll consider it if you tell Fred how you feel about him."

"Yeah... don't you have a trip to go on?," Hope grumbled while Padma smirked with triumph as she and everyone else left, leaving Harry and Hope alone.

They stood their in disappointed silence before Hope jolted Harry out of his funk with a sudden squeal. "What is your issue?"

"This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!"

Harry just goggled at her as she sang the slightly familiar tune. It was from one of his favorite movies. It seemed on Halloween Mrs. Figg would take pity on him that he had to stay with her while Dudley and his friends got to go trick-or-treating so she would put _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ on for him each year. It was one of the few times it didn't suck being at her house.

However that still didn't explain why Hope was suddenly bouncing around singing it. "Um..."

"Well it is Halloween," she said as she bounced to the stairs. "I refuse to be all sulky on Halloween, even if I can't go to the trip today."

"Well, what are you going to do?" he asked and she thought for a moment.

"Probably go to the owlery. I haven't seen Nik in a while."

Harry considered this and decided to join her. "I haven't seen Hedwig either. I'll come with you."

He found having Hope as company for more than a few minutes was actually rather fun. While she was really crude and foul-mouthed for a girl, she kept him in stitches with her repulsive jokes and silly stories. Though her teasing him about Cho was a bit irritating.

"Seriously, you should ask her out. If you keep eye-banging her in the Great Hall then we're going to have to figure out how to put muggle censor bars over your eyes."

Harry turned an unbecoming shade of purple. "I wasn't... eye-banging her! What does that even mean?"

Hope gave him a condescending smile. "Now Harry, when a boy likes a girl very much sometimes he'll imagine taking her clothes off and touching naughty places..."

"Oh my God!" Harry cried, his face darkening further. Knowing that admitting it or denying ir would get him nowhere, he decided to use her own brand of crudeness against her. "Well what about you? You keep... eye-banging Fred it's a wonder you aren't really pregnant!"

Hope's mouth fell open and she pushed his shoulder. "Ass!" Harry smirked, happy to have the upper-hand.

In the owlery, Harry immediately noticed the owl that belonged to Hope. It was a handsome Great Horned Owl, a type he had never seen in England but according to Hope they were rather common in America.

"I think I almost bought your owl my first year," she said as she examined Hedwig who gave the girl an unimpressed look just as Hope's owl did to him. "My aunt wanted me to get her but I didn't want to get her and I called her a diva. She hasn't liked me since."

"Why didn't you want her?" Harry asked, feeling annoyed as if she were insulting Hedwig.

"Don't get me wrong, she's really pretty... but I don't know. I felt like I would've been stealing if I bought her. Like she was meant for someone else."

Harry wasn't expecting that answer. "Do you think you might be an actual psychic?"

"You mean not like Trelawney?" she smirked and he grinned, feeling some of her inappropriateness rub off on him.

"I think the droppings Nik just dropped are more psychic than Trelawney..." Nik gave Harry an unamused screech and took off to the rafters.

Hope let out a huge guffaw at that as they left the owlery. "Oh my God, I know what you mean. Seriously, I love Parvati and Lavender but they are tap dancing on my last nerve. It's like they worship that old bat. And what's with that Grim shit?"

Harry's stomach jolted at the mention of the Grim, remembering the giant black dog outside of his home on the night he blew up his aunt. He also remembered what he had heard at the Burrow about Sirius Black escaping and coming to kill him. Hope apparently noticed his change in demeanor for she grew somber as well. "Hey... I don't think there's anything happening... at least not anything that crazy hag says."

Harry gave an appreciative smile but still felt uneasy. She let out a sigh as if she noticed what he was feeling and then perked up. "Hey... do you wanna be my Guinea pig?"

"What?"

"My Aunt Bex sent me a pack of tarot cards and rune stones, and we've already established I'm more psychic than Trelawney... but then so's the owl poop..." Harry smirked in spite of himself and it would give him something to do aside from being jealous and nervous all day.

"All right."

The two went to the common room and found it full of younger second and first year students as well as a few older students who didn't want to go on the trip. Hope ran up the stairs of the girl's dorm to retrieve her cards and runes, then came back down.

"Okay..." she handed him a deck of beautiful cards and sat across from him. "Shuffle up."

Harry looked around and suddenly did not want to do this in the common room with everyone watching. "Can we go somewhere else?"

Hope shrugged and he lead her to the boys dormitories and to where the third year boys were housed. They both took a seat on his bed and he began to shuffle the cards, though they felt awkward in his hands. He was used to playing cards or Uno cards. "When do I stop?"

"Whenever you feel like you should... Focus on what you want an answer about."

He shuffled, focusing on the Grim and the picture of Sirius Black he had seen all over Diagon Alley and after a few moments, handed them back to her. She cut the cards and then laid then out in a strange pattern.

"Okay... your signifier is..." she stopped and looked to the door "What is that irritating thing doing here?"

Harry looked up to see Crookshanks coming into the room. It hopped on the bed and stared at Hope for a moment before looking away. Harry quickly glanced around for Ron's rat but then remembered he had taken it to Hogsmeade with him. Sighing in relief, he turned back to the cards. "Probably looking for Scabbers but Ron took him on the trip."

Hope shrugged and began the reading. "The Knight of Wands. Yeah that sounds like you..."

"Ehhh?"

"Brave, daring, bold knight type of guy." Harry blushed at her description but didn't say anything. She continued "Covering, or what you're dealing with now, is the Moon. Lots of confusion, fear and... does it feel like there is more people aren't telling you?"

So far Harry was willing to admit she was more spot on than Trelawney ever was. "Um... yeah." Harry looked at the Moon card, it was a beautiful image of a nude woman with her back to the viewer gazing at a beautiful full moon. The setting was a strange temple and there was a dog howling at the moon as well as a wolf.

"Crossing you, or something that's either going to help or hurt you, is the Page of Swords... Ugh, I hate court cards... they can either be situations of people. If it's a situation, then that means that you'll find out some info. Since its on top of the Moon, I'm guessing an illusion is going to be shattered, you'll find something out. And the book says swords are kind of unpleasant because they're thoughts and info, sometimes stuff you don't wanna know. Now, if it's a person... I see someone who tends clashes with people and can be a bit of an asshole, but you'll find out the truth from said asshole."

Why did Malfoy flash through his mind?

"Your foundation, or far past or root of the question... whatever... is the High Priestess... lots and lots of secrets. Dude, why is your spread so dramatastic?" she huffed but continued. "Recent past as well as present is the Hermit... learning, analyzing as well as a person who keeps to themselves... an older one. What's on your mind... the Nine of Swords... oh my God, I'm going to sneak you some antidepressants. You're wigging out but the good thing about this card is it's mostly mental. Look at the card."

Harry looked at the card and had to admit, he didn't like it. It was beautifully done, but dark. A woman with bags under her eyes was lying in bed at night, nine swords hung over her bed and shadowy hands reached for her from the swords.

"See? The swords and hands aren't touching the woman. She's just having a fit for no reason." She paused to give him a pointed look and he rolled his eyes but felt a bit better.

"The next card?"

"Oh, right... the near future is... the Tower?" Her face scrunched and he got an unpleasant feeling in his gut as he looked at the card. There was a giant tower, fire, meteors striking the foundation. "Okay... no panicking... That card means upheaval. It can easily mean you'll fall on your ass during practice but it's nothing Madam Pomfrey can't fix. And if it's metaphorical, then it could mean..." she reached in her back pocket and pulled out a book that clearly came with the cards. She skimmed it a bit and then brightened. "Okay, it can mean that there is upheaval but it needs to happen. Like, something you felt safe believing turns out to be false. Your security blanket was yanked away. This usually comes up when lovers are cheating... friends are being fake or you're holding onto stuff that just needs to die."

Harry mulled that over and then gestured to another card. "And that one?"

Hope flipped it over. "What your mindset is... Ten of Swords in reverse. You're expecting the worst but you refuse to show it." The card showed a man being struck in the back by ten swords, the it was upside down.

"Your environment... Seven of Swords... Hopes and Fears... the Lovers... why am I seeing a hot Asian Ravenclaw there...?"

Harry sighed and flopped on the bed. "And the last one?"

She flipped the last card and her brow furrowed. "The Emperor? That's weird... someone with authority or a father figure..."

It was probably Dumbledore. He could think of no one else.

Harry sat up and watched as she took the images all in. "What?"

She sat back on her heels. "Um... is it weird it seems like the pictures are trying to tell me stories?"

"What?"

He watched as her eyes darted over the spread, her face intense like she was trying to figure out a puzzle that was close to being completed. Harry was growing impatient but didn't want to rush her, half afraid she'd lose what she was putting together. Finally she sat up. "Whoa..."

"What?!" he demanded, finally losing patience.

"It was weird... okay... it's like certain ones grouped together made me think of certain things, like they just popped in my head. The Hermit near the Moon and Page of Swords keeps jumping out at me... I have no clue why. Maybe whoever the Hermit is has info you would need but he doesn't wanna share because he's afraid... He'll tell you eventually though. But if the Page is a person, then it might be that this person is also hiding something as well." Now Harry scooted to the side of her, wanting to see what she was seeing but so far all he saw was pretty pictures on paper.

"Anything else?"

Her eyes dropped to the lower part of the spread. "High Priestess makes a perfect triangle with the Tower and the Moon... and the Page of Swords is in the center of it... something surrounding this person is about to be screwed up... and I don't think its you, but it will affect you. High Priestess also makes a triangle with the Hermit and the Moon... Honestly I'm seeing way too many secrets coming out." Her eyes swept over again. "Emperor with Nine of Swords and the Tower... Anxiety, upheaval and then authority and control... But the Tower is also near the Seven of Swords which makes me think a sneak or a thief and that something isn't as secure as they thought... Tower, Seven of Swords and the Lovers... it looks like the sneak will have a partner... I'm not seeing romance... Though..._ it may be_ attraction... but weird... I don't know..." Now she flopped back on the bed. "I think the tarot readers in the U.S had the right idea when they got baked while doing readings, I totally need to be wasted or something to decode this crap."

Harry was disappointed that she couldn't figure it out however he was looking at her in a new light. She made a lot more sense with her random predictions than Trelawney. "Don't worry about it..." He absently petted Crookshanks and noted the cat was now staring hard at Hope. Was he still mad that she punched his owner?

"But, the good news I totally don't see you getting killed," Hope said with a big cheesy grin that he couldn't help but laugh at.

"Good to know."

The fell quiet for a bit, the silence between them easy.

"Say Harry... y'know you've got a girl in your bed, right?"

Harry just smirked, figuring something inappropriate and Hope-like was about to follow that sentence but he beat her to it. "Fred would kill me. The last thing I need is him letting a Bludger hit me during a match because I stole his 'baby mama.' I think its best we leave it in _your_ dreams."

Hope let out a cackle and swatted his arm. "You're getting better at this." She sat up and gathered her cards again. "Now, lets do fun readings! I need the practice." She handed them to him and commanded he shuffle which he did.

"What shall we do this one on?"

The smile she gave made him slightly nervous. "You and Cho relationship spread."

Harry stopped shuffling.

* * *

Many silly readings later (none of which had anything to do with Harry and Cho much to Hope's disappointment) Hope and Harry finally removed themselves from the boys dorms and made it down to the common room. They were just coming downstairs when Colin Creevy's eyes widened at the sight of them descending the steps together.

"Harry! Hey Harry, is Hope your girlfriend?" he asked loudly.

Harry let out a loud, exasperated sigh while Hope snickered. He had forgotten that Colin was here as he was a second year and not allowed to Hogsmeade yet. Plus, he was like an annoying shadow with a big mouth. He glanced at Hope, praying she wasn't upset and was relieved to see her giggling.

"Nah, Colin, he's not my boyfriend. He was helping me with homework since I fell asleep in Divination class."

That seemed to placate the boy however neither of them noticed the scrutinizing look Ginny Weasley was giving them.

Hope turned to Harry and rolled her eyes. "I'm going to roam the halls because as much as I love the younger kids, they've been spazzing for, like, hours." She then headed out of the portrait hole. Harry debated following after her or staying here with the rest. He chose the less annoying of the two and followed her out as well. The two walked down the halls a bit, not wanting to be in the common room with a bunch of noisy first and second years. The both kept a lookout for Filch, not wanting to be subjected to his endless tirades. However when they both passed a corridor a voice called out to them. "Harry? Hope?"

They froze, afraid they were in trouble though Hope seemed to calm down when she saw who it was. "Hi Professor Lupin," she smiled then blinked when she saw something in his office, a tank of water with a sickly green creature with sharp horns. "Eww..."

"Ah, this is a grindylow for our next lesson."

"It looks like a puke demon..."

Lupin gave her a smile. "It's actually a water demon."

"Oh..." Hope then cleared her throat. "Do I know you, sir? I keep getting a weird deja vu feeling..."

Lupin tilted his head to the side before shaking, "No, Hope, I don't believe so." He then looked back and forth between the two of them. "Where are your friends?"

"Hogsmeade," they both said in unison.

"I see..." He then opened his door a bit wider. "Come on in, I was just about to make a cup of tea."

The two looked at each other before Hope entered and Harry followed after her. Lupin tapped the tea kettle with his and and steam came from the spout. Hope gave a smile. "I swear, when I'm seventeen I already know Auntie Bex is going to bug the crap out of me to do stuff like that just to save on the electric bill."

Lupin gave a small laugh and began making the tea.

"You're not worried, are you, Harry?"

"No." He noticed Hope give him a look but she didn't say anything.

"Can I ask a question?" Harry asked and cleared his throat. "Why didn't you let me fight the boggart?"

Hope had glanced at Lupin as well, curious. Lupin only poured three mugs of tea. "Do you mind if we discuss this in front of Hope?"

Harry looked back at the girl and then gave a shrug. Considering she had eased up his fear on the issue with the Grim and had hung out with him for most of the day, he felt he could trust her. "I don't mind."

"Well, I was certain that if the boggart faced you, it would take the shape of Lord Voldemort."

Harry blinked, not expecting that answer and not expecting him to say his name. He glanced at Hope and noted with surprise that she did not shiver or flinch at the name. It seemed Lupin noted that as well. "You do not fear the name, Hope?"

Hope gave a light shrug though her eyes were a bit wide. "Ehh... Not really. I played 'Bloody Mary' all the time when I was seven and nothing happened."

Lupin gave a smile at that. "That's right, you weren't brought up in the wizarding world either, so you wouldn't be taught to fear the name."

Hope gave a scoff. "Neither was Hermione but she wigs every time you say the name as well..." She then muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'poser' before giving Lupin a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

Lupin just gave her a slight disapproving look before going back to his tea. "I see the two of you still haven't made up, if the way you glare at each other during class is any indication."

Hope just drank her tea, probably to keep her from saying things that would get her in trouble, Harry assumed. Hope then opened her mouth but then stopped as her eyes widened and she looked about confused. Both Harry and Lupin turned to her in concern. "Are you all right?" Lupin asked her.

"Um..." she shifted a little on her feet, not like she was nervous but as if she were trying to regain balance that was somehow lost. She then broke into big grin. "I gotta go! Thanks for the tea, sir!" She quickly exited the office, almost running into Snape who had entered as she bolted nearly making him drop the steaming goblet he held.

"Five points for running in the halls, Mitchell!" he called after her but she ignored him. He then swept into the room, eyes narrowing on Harry.

"Ah, Severus," Lupin said with a smile. "Thank you very much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?"

Snape set the smoking goblet on the desk, his eyes wandering between Harry and Lupin.

"I was just showing Harry and Hope my grindylow," Lupin said pleasantly, pointing to the tank.

"Fascinating," Snape said without looking at the tank. "Be certain to drink that directly, Lupin."

"Yes, I will."

"I made an entire cauldronful if you need more."

"I shall take some again tomorrow. Thanks very much, Severus."

"Not at all," Snape said though there was a look in the Potions master's eyes that Harry didn't like. He then backed out of the room, eyes still watchful.

Harry looked at the goblet and then back to Lupin. He wasn't actually going to drink that, was he?

Lupin caught Harry's incredulous gaze and smiled. "I've been feeling a bit off-color lately and Severus has kindly concocted this potion for me. I have never been much of a potion brewer and this one is quite complex. Not many wizards are up to making it so I am extremely fortunate to be working alongside Professor Snape." He then sniffed the goblet and grimaced "However, it is quite revolting..." he took a sip, shuddering.

Lupin took another sip and Harry wanted to knock the goblet from his hands.

"So, Harry... we were discussing your boggart. I had, wrongly of course, assumed the boggart would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort. I didn't think it was a good idea for Lord Voldemort to materialize in the staffroom. People would panic."

Harry couldn't take his eyes off of the goblet but forced himself to answer the man. "Well... I didn't think of Voldemort... I remembered those dementors and..."

"Ah, I see..." Lupin said thoughtfully as he took another shuddering sip. "Well, I'm impressed, Harry. That suggests that what you fear most is fear. Very wise, Harry."

Harry had no clue what to say to that, so he sipped his tea, eyes still on the smoking goblet.

"Professor Snape is... er... really interested in the Dark Arts..." Harry said suddenly.

"Really?" Lupin asked, mildly and he took another gulp.

"Some people reckon... that he'd do anything to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts job."

Lupin said nothing and drained the goblet. "Disgusting... Well, Harry I should get back to work. I'll see you at the feast."

"Right..." Harry set down the empty cup and headed out, unable to ignore the smoking goblet on the desk.

* * *

Hope ran as fast as she could to the nearest girl's bathroom. Once inside she skidded to a stop and went into a toilet stall. Taking a deep breath, she pulled down her undies and let out a huge sigh of relief that her blue and orange panties were spotted with red. "Hallelujah!"

"Oh of course, cheer in here over your first lunar tide... I died before I ever got mine..." Hope rolled her eyes at the despondent voice of Moaning Myrtle.

"Oh my God, can't a girl celebrate a puberty milestone without you having an emo fit?" Hope huffed and grabbed one of the pads from the shelves inside of the stall. Best thing about Hogwarts bathrooms: fully stocked for lady time needs. There was also chocolate by the sinks.

Moaning Myrtle gave a great wail and dived into one of the toilets, but Hope was too elated to care. She had finally gotten it.

Wait... did that mean her protection spell was broken? And when McGonagall was at Hogsmeade? Crap...

She then shrugged it off. She would be fine. No biggie. She had a few more hours anyway.

Leaving the bathroom, she skipped back down the hall, humming a happy tune. However her mood soured when she notice Snape headed down the same corridor, minus the creepy steaming goblet.

"Mitchell, why aren't you in your common room?"

Hope narrowed her eyes but answered with unflinching honesty. "I was talking with Professor Lupin about next week's lesson and then I got my period so I had to rush for pads. Are we ever going to learn how to make cramp potions?"

Snape's face turned an unbecoming dark shade and she inwardly crowed with glee. "Either go to Madam Pomfrey or get back to your common room," he hissed, storming past her.

"Yes, sir!" she gave a salute and happily continued on her way. She ran into Harry on the way back.

"Where'd you run off to?" he asked.

"Bathroom..." She explained what happened and fought not to laugh at Harry's embarrassed face as she mentioned her girl business.

"Well... at least everyone will stop saying your pregnant..." he muttered.

"What was Snape doing with Lupin? Was that creepy goblet something for class?"

"No, something for Lupin. He said he hasn't been feeling well and Snape's been making him a potion..."

Hope's eyes widened in horror. "Please, God don't tell me he drank it! It looked like some shit from a horror movie and smelled like hot garbage!"

"He drank it all. I tried warning him that Snape really wants the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. And have you noticed he basically hates Lupin? He was never like that to the other teachers."

"Probably mad that Lupin's better looking than him.. in a weird way."

"You're bizarre..."

"Yeah, I know." She then turned back to him. "What'd you guys talk about in there?"

"How my boggart would have more than likely been dementors instead of Voldemort."

Hope gave a shiver at the mention of dementors. "I'm half surprised mine wasn't a dementor... Those things had me messed up on the train..."

"Well, of course if it showed you Pansy's face over and over again." Harry laughed as they entered the common room.

* * *

It was dusk when the older students returned from Hogsmeade. Harry and Hope were back in the common room, both of them talking animatedly about what had happened in Lupin's office when everyone else came in. Harry had then went off to speak with Ron and Hermione, who were both carrying big bags that said Honeydukes. Hope scanned the incoming students for her friends and flushed when her eyes met Fred Weasley's.

Neither of them noticed, but Ginny Weasley seemed to look very relieved when she noticed Hope blush at the sight of her older brother.

"Hey... Lavender, Parvati? Can I talk to you?" the small redhead asked the two girls who had just entered the painting.

The girls nodded and motioned that they would meet Hope in the girls dormitory. Hope nodded, slightly curious about what Ginny was speaking with them about and why they were suddenly smiling. Ah well, it didn't matter. She had a Halloween feast to get to. She scurried up to the girls' dormitories to change and when she was finished she saw Lavender dumping a giant bag of Honeydukes sweet onto Hope's bed.

"There you are!" Lavender smiled and was it Hope's imagination or did the blond have a slight glint in her eye? "Let's go!" she yanked her out of the dorm and to the feast.

The Halloween feast was in full swing and Hope was having the time of her life. Live bats fluttered near the ceiling which was spelled to resemble the cloudy night sky outside. Orange streamers sailed lazily through the Hall. Parvati had managed to pry Padma from the Ravenclaw table and brought her over. The two twins were whispering something and she noticed Lavender smirking. Did some juicy gossip happen at Hogsmeade?

"So... I heard you were in the boys dormitories with Harry for hours while we were gone..." Lavender said with a grin.

Hope rolled her eyes. So that's what they were yipping about? "He was helping me with Divination homework and you guys weren't here..."

"If you'd stop falling asleep in class..." Parvati said with a huff, "Professor Trelawney would be able to tell you how-OUCH!" There was a thump under the table and Parvati was glaring daggers at her sister who Hope assumed had just kicked her underneath the table. Hope snickered when a laugh had caught her attention from further down. Fred was talking animatedly with Lee and George and she ducked her head, concentrating on her food.

"I don't get you, Hope." Padma said as she ignored the death glare Parvarti was giving her. "You're so loud and you have-"

"-no social filter?" Hope finished for her through a mouthful of roast beef.

"Exactly. You'll snap at Snape in a moment but you're afraid to tell a boy you like him. It makes no sense to me."

"Me either..." Ginny muttered and Hope rolled her eyes at the group.

"I think it's a cover..." Parvati said smugly though she was hunched as if she were rubbing a particularly bruised leg. "She acts loud and brash to hide how she scared she is over certain situations."

Hope's shoulders squared and she sent a withering glare to her friend.. "I'm not scared of anything!" However she learned that was the wrong thing to say when Lavender smirked at Ginny who returned the look.

"You heard her. You know what to do."

Hope's brow furrowed in confusion then her stomach dropped in horror when Ginny set her fork down and looked determinedly at her two older brothers.

"I'll get him now." Ginny then got up from the table and went to where her brothers sat, despite Hope trying to bring her back.

"Ginny, no! Ginny, get back here! Ginny!" she buried her head in her hands. "Ahh crap." That's what they were whispering about! She was going to kill them!

Parvati just gave Hope a pat on the back. "Go on and tell him. You've been fawning over him since the journey here. And besides you just said you're not scared... or did the Sorting Hat put you in the wrong house?"

Hope still kept her face hidden. "Ooohhhh I wanna kick your ass!"

Parvati just smirked, then kicked Hope under the table when she saw Fred coming over to them. "Just get it over with, Hope."

Hope took a deep breath, lifted her head and turned to the older boy who had just come up behind her. "Hiya..." She gave a quick glare to the girls that promised nothing but pain but she couldn't back out. Her pride wouldn't let her. And those heifers knew it! She then stood from her seat. "Can... can I talk to you?"

Without waiting for an answer, she skittered to the exit and he followed her. She glanced over her shoulder, not looking at him, but to her friends. Lavender and Parvati were giving her thumbs up while Ginny giggled behind her hands. She also noticed George watching them with his brows raised as he looked back and forth between the giggling Ginny and their retreating forms.

Point of no return.

She led them to an empty classroom in case someone, more than likely Parvati, decided to come snooping. After shutting the door behind them, she sat on the teachers' desk, determinedly looking at her shoes. She felt Fred sit next her and her mouth went dry.

"What is it?" Fred asked once they were out of the hall and away from prying ears.

Hope's stomach twisted into uncomfortable knots and a lump formed in her throat. Her heart was pounding so loudly she was surprised he couldn't hear it. She a deep breath to try and get oxygen to her brain and clenched her eyes shut. _Like a band-aid. Rip it off_. "Ilikeyou." she finally squeaked out.

"What was that?" he asked, and she cracked open one eye to look at him. He looked like he was trying not to smile. Taking another deep breath she looked at him fully.

"I like you. Like... a whole lot..." She then turned away from him. This was stupid. There was no way he liked her. Something yanked at her heart and her shoulders slumped. Best to cut her losses. "So, if this is the part where you let me down easy, and I go back to my friends and they stuff me with chocolate and stuff we can totally skip that part and I'll just head back to the feast and-" she was cut off by his surprised chuckle.

"Actually, it was going to be the part where I tell you I like you as well, but if you'd rather do that instead-"

"No!" Hope exclaimed, eyes wide as a sugary feeling exploded in her chest. "Really? But you weren't really talking to me during the past month..."

"Quidditch had just come up and Wood's been running us into the ground, making good on his promise to 'pound Slytherin like whores' I imagine," he said with a grin while she giggled and then his cheeks turned a bit pink as well. He was really cute when he blushed. "Also... I was getting a bit nervous around you before I realized I liked you. And don't look so shocked. You are fun, and hilarious and pretty..."

Hope flushed even brighter in pleasure and stammered, "Oh... wow... huh.. um... you're pretty too." She then smacked herself on the forehead. "I mean..."

"I bare my soul here and you call me a girl?" Fred said in an melodramatically anguished voice, making her laugh, before he turned away from her but she wasn't letting him get away that easily. Acting on impulse, she threw her arms around his middle, giggling at his embarrassment. He feigned a struggle but soon wrapped an arm around her and she practically melted.

"So... now what?" she asked and he laughed.

"Well, I think we should head back before my nosy git of a brother drags your friends to eavesdrop."

"It'd totally be the other way around... But your right."

"But... one thing first..."

Hope looked up at him and felt her stomach drop when she saw him leaning down.

_Is he going to... Oh god!_

His hand drifted to the small of her back and her heart thundered behind her ribcage. His lips brushed over hers lightly and her eyes fell shut, a tiny squeak of surprise leaving her. Her hands gripped his shoulders hesitantly and she tried to kiss back, praying to any listening deity that she didn't suck at it but soon her brain went to a fuzzy, happy place and she stopped worrying.

It seemed like it lasted too long and not nearly long enough, but he soon pulled back from her.

"That was... wow..." How was her brain even functioning right now?

Fred seemed to noticed the idiotic expression on her face and his mouth spread into a slow, disbelieving smile. "Was that your first?"

Hope's eyes snapped to attention and she scoffed. "What? Pfft! No! Crazy man!" He just stared her down, still smiling and her shoulders slumped and she grumbled out "Maybe..." Now her head dropped. "I suck, don't I?"

Fred gave her a grin and pulled her closer. "You weren't bad for a novice... But, I think it's I who should try live up to your expectations..." He tilted her chin up and she let out one of her adorable squeaks as he leaned forward, taking her mouth with his again.

This one lasted a bit longer than the first and Hope's brain went to that wonderfully fuzzy place while still being able to recall every movie with every good kissing scene and every book that described good kissing scenes. But just as she was working up the nerve to try tongue and pray she didn't screw it up, he pulled back.

Was he trying to be a proper gentleman or some such crap, because dang it! She wanted more. She wanted the tongue action she saw on late night cable! Maybe even some neck action... A tingle shot down her spine at the image of Fred, lying in bed with her, kissing her neck while she had her hands in his hair. Was it really as soft as it looked?

"I think it's time to head back... unless you fancy Peeves coming in here and-"

The mention of that translucent pain in the butt brought her mind back to civilized thoughts. "No! Yeah, you're right... that little jerk snapped my bra first year! Do you have any idea what it's like having a ghost snap your bra?!"

Fred grinned and moved to open the door for her. "Try having him give you a wedgie." Hope guffawed the entire way back to the Hall and she calmed down before entering.

"So... I'd better head back to my friends..."

"Right... same here."

She fidgeted for a moment then steeled herself. Rising on her toes, she tugged him down for a quick goodbye kiss before heading back into the Hall.

Inside the Hall Harry was greatly enjoying the feast, watching the ghosts perform when Lavender's overly excited giggle caught his attention. He turned to the entrance and saw Hope and Fred return. The girl was beet red but smiling widely while the older boy looked a bit smug but with a pink tint to his cheeks. George let out a wolf whistle while Parvati shot her friend a thumbs up. Hope and Fred exchanged smiles before heading back to their friends.

"So, wait..." Ron said wide-eyed "They're together?"

"About time..." Harry said as he took a bit of ham. His eyes flicked up to the staff table. Professor Lupin looked just fine, no signs of poisoning. He was talking animatedly with Professor Flitwick. Further down the table Snae kept flicking his eyes to Lupin more often than natural. However his view of the table was blocked by Hope's ecstatic face.

"Harry!" Hope whispered to him excitedly then flicked her eyes to Cho who was laughing with her friends. "If I can get my older crush, so can you. Batter up!"

Harry flushed, ducking his head and going back to his food. "Congratulations, Hope... and cut it out..."

Hope grinned and sat back down turning to Parvati. "You live, I don't want to kick your ass anymore."

Parvati just smiled. "You're welcome."

Hope dove into her pudding which tasted better than before. However, the moment was ruined when her abdomen gave a twinge that felt nothing like an overindulgence of food. But, there was food within striking distance so she gave it not another thought. Besides, who could worry about anything when there were ghosts giving an excellent performance?

* * *

"Oh my God... I ate like a pig... I shouldn't have ate so much..."

Hope trudged to the common room, arm linked through Lavender's who was giving her an exasperated look. Every feast, Hope ate like a small rhino and wondered why her stomach was killing her. Although considering she finally snagged her crush, her friends supposed she was allowed a celebratory food fest.

"Fred, you should carry her!" Parvati called in a singsong voice and the older boy laughed.

"That does sound like a good idea," he said and swooped her off of her feet. There were catcalls and whistles before a sharp cry of, "Fred! Put her down!" it was Percy.

Fred rolled his eyes and set her back on her feet before giving Percy a mocking bow. "As you command, your Big Headedness!"

Once they got to the stairs leading to the common room, they found it crowded with people. People were standing on their toes to see what was going on but unable to. Hope growled in irritation "Oh my God, what the Hell! All I want are my Batman pajamas and my bed. Did everyone forget the password?"

"Why is no one going in?" Lavender asked worriedly.

"Ugh, screw this. I gotta pee." Hope then left the group and headed back downstairs to find the nearest toilet stall. No one told her how much she was going to have to pee and poop once starting her rag. What was up with that?

She made her way down the hall, bladder screaming in protest. Once she finally made it, she relieved herself, and then after grabbing a few pads and pieces of chocolate for later, she left the bathroom. She took a bite of chocolate and felt much better. Wow, the chocolate did help with the emotions but not so much the cramps. She had been joking with Snape before but now wondered if they would make a cramp potion.

As she passed a corridor, she froze when she saw a huge, dark shape that looked like some sort of animal. A giant dog. She gasped, her blood turning to ice and she turned to look but it was gone. Heart beating a little faster and no longer feeling safe, she sped up her steps. She'd just get to Gryffindor tower, go to bed and it would all be golden.

_That was not a Grim. Trelawney is full of shit. That was not a Grim. That was not a Grim. _

"Hope! There you are!"

Hope looked up when she saw everyone headed back down, people were talking excitedly, some looking fearful. It looked like it was all of Gryffindor. Lavender had ran up to her, looking shaken. "We thought he got you!" Everyone began talking to her at once.

"The Fat Lady's gone! That's why no one could get in!"

"We have to go the Great Hall now!"

"There you are!" Ron cried when he saw her, pushing through a crowd of people. Harry and Hermione were right behind him. "My brother's losing it." He then craned his neck and called over the excited voices, "Fred! She's okay!"

She barely had time to register anything when a blur of red zoomed towards her and pulled her into a crushing hug. "You scared me half to death!" He then gave her a hard kiss on the mouth.

It was the fact no one was giggling about their public display of affection that alerted Hope of the seriousness of the situation. "Can someone tell me what happened, without the overlap?"

"Sirius Black came..." it was Harry who spoke. "He tried to get into Gryffindor Tower and when the Fat Lady wouldn't let him in he slashed up her canvas."

* * *

When the Gryffindors were led back into the Great Hall by Dumbledore, they were soon joined by Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin, who all looked very confused. It was announced that they would be sleeping in the hall for their safety and something about Percy and whoever the Head Girl was, being in charge. It all sounded like white noise to her. She was too busy freaking out to pay attention to what was being said.

"Hope..."

The girl noted her name being called and looked up to see Fred, handing her a squishy sleeping bag. Where did those come from? It seemed everyone had one.

"Hope, you look shaken, come on and lie down," Lavender urged, leading her to where Parvati was excitedly telling Padma what had happened. Getting into the bag, she stared up at the sky in the ceiling, willing herself to calm down. Her nerves were all on red alert.

_Okay... day starts out fine. Detention. Everyone going to Hogsmeade. Halloween feast. Then I have to pee and I see that... thing and then I hear Sirius Black broke in here. What the Hell?_

_I got my period._

Her eyes widened and she shuddered violently. She had been told that it was more than likely the signal that her spell had worn off. And then hours later she sees a Grim and a crazed psycho almost breaks in?!

_I need to tell McGonagall now. She needs to do my spell now!_

Fred, who was lying on the other side of her, noticed the color drain from her cheeks and felt the violent shudder her body gave. "Hope, it's going to be all right. They'll catch him..."

It seemed Hope was not hearing him. Instead she lifted herself on her elbows. "Percy. Percy!" Hope then rolled her eyes and stood from her sleeping bag, tip-toeing over bodies in the dark. She could only see by the light of the ghosts. "Percy!"

The Head Boy turned around, looking irritated that she was disturbing him. "Hope, why aren't you in your sleeping bag?"

"Is the baby kicking?" Pansy asked from a few feet away.

"Five points from Slytherin!" Percy snapped at her then took off another five for the finger she flipped him before turning back to his brother's new girlfriend. "Whatever it is will have to wait until morning, Hope. Go back to your bag."

Hope fumed, wrath shooting up like a lava geyser. "No, it really can't. I need to talk to Professor McGonagall. It's really important."

"And what exactly is so important?"

"None of your business."

Percy's ears turned red and he fumed at her but she wasn't impressed. She gave no shits about his duties or whatever crap was about to come out of his mouth. A dangerous wizard lunatic had just broken into the castle on the very night she had gotten her period, when her spell was supposed to leave her. His crap with his silly red badge could wait.

"Listen here, you will listen to me, Hope. I'm Head Boy!"

Hope's anger hit critical mass before she could get a handle on it, especially when it was fueled by fear. "AND I WONDER HOW YOU GOT _THAT_ TITLE!?"

A bunch of people all broke into muffled snickers and giggles and it didn't help matters when Percy retorted on reflex instead of realizing what she said. "With lots of vigorous hard work!"

It seemed the laughter from the other students increased and registered and he flushed violently from embarrassment, giving Hope a furious glare. "Ten points from Gryffindor! Stop laughing, Malfoy! Five points from Slytherin! Time for bed!" He then stormed off to tell off other students for laughing and talking.

Hope growled and stormed back to her bag, ignoring the snickers and looks of admiration from a few students as she passed. Ron was on his stomach, his face buried between his folded arm, shaking with laughter along with Harry while Hermione gave her a disgusted look. Hope flipped the girl off.

She finally found her spot between Parvati and Fred, both of whom were laughing extremely hard but quietly. She curled up in her bag and Parvati lifted her head from her pillow, her eyes bright with laughter. "Hope... are you all right?"

Hope turned her back to her friend, not wanting to talk, too mad and afraid to speak. Her period had come, the spell probably broke and hours later a mad killer breaks into Hogwarts. There was no way this could be a coincidence. And here she was thinking Hogwarts was safe. Clearly it wasn't. That crazed freak almost broke into her Tower.

The Tower card flashed through her mind and she sat up as if electrocuted.

It seemed she wasn't the only one who had come to that conclusion. Harry was also sitting up, it was dark but she could make out the shine of his glasses from the light of the ghosts as well as the gibbous moon that shone in the ceiling above. His eyes were wide, mouth open, expression perfectly mirroring her own.

Suddenly being good at tarot wasn't so fun anymore.

Harry had been discussing the break in with Ron and Hermione when it had come to him. Hope's words from the earlier day had come back to him. The Tower card represented the realization that something was not as secure as they had thought. There was also the sneak card... He sat up at the realization and noticed she was also upright.

"Hope, lie back down," the Head Girl, Penelope Clearwater, said with a frown. She clearly did not appreciate what Hope had said about her boyfriend earlier.

Hope huffed and curled into her bag and the older Ravenclaw didn't see the finger Hope flipped her or else Gryffindor would have lost more points. He wanted to go over to her, discuss what happened, but with the ghosts, prefects and Percy, it didn't seem likely.

Once every hour, a teacher would check that everything was quiet. Around three in the morning, when many of the students had fallen asleep, Professor Dumbledore came in. He made his way to Percy, who had been prowling between the bags, telling people of for talking. They were only a short way from the trio and they quickly pretended to be asleep.

"Any sign of him, Professor?" Percy whispered.

"No. All well here?"

"Everything under control, sir."

"Good. There's no point in moving all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow. The Fat Lady was found hiding a map of Argyllshire on the second floor She refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her."

The door of the hall creaked open and there were more footsteps. "Headmaster?" It was Snape. Harry strained harder than ever to listen. "The entire third floor has been searched. He is not there. Filch has done the dungeons; not there either."

"What about the Astronomy Tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"

"All searched..."

"Well, I didn't really expect Black to linger."

"Have you any theory as t how he got in, Professor?" Snape asked.

"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."

Harry opened his eyes a fraction. Dumbledore's back was to him, but he could see Percy's face, rapt with attention and Snape's profile which was angry.

"You remember the conversation we had just before... the start of term, Headmaster?" Snape asked lowly as though he were trying to keep Percy out of the conversation.

"Yes, I do, Severus..." Dumbledore said, warning in his voice.

"It seems highly impossible that Black could have entered the school without outside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed-"

"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," Dumbledore declared, his tone clearly closing the subject. "I must go down to the dementors. I said I would inform the when our search was complete."

"Didn't they want to help?" Percy asked.

"Oh, of course they did," Dumbledore said coldly "But I'm afraid no dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am headmaster."

Percy looked slightly embarrassed. Dumbledore left the hall quickly. Snape stood there for a moment, bitter expression on his face, and he too left.

Harry glanced at his two friends. Their eyes were wide open. They had heard everything.

"What was that about?" Ron whispered.

Harry glanced over to see if Hope had heard anything. However, it appeared she was fast asleep in her bag, snuggled as close to Fred as she could get, soft snores escaping her.

**Okay: Hope is being an idiot when it comes to her little war with Pansy... Don't you love it when thirteen year olds take advice badly? Will she regret it? And Yes, I've decided to make her a reader, considering she was technically a New Orleans witch and they were famous for that.  
**


	10. Chapter 10

"Professor, I need to talk to you."

It was early Sunday morning and the students were finally allowed back into Gryffindor tower. There was an excitement in the air as no one could talk about anything except Sirius Black. Under normal circumstances, Hope would have been fine with this considering it meant people had something else to talk about other than her fake pregnancy and new relationship. However, since she was certain it was no coincidence that her lady times sparked the same day he broke in, she was on the verge of pooping bricks.

McGonagall was currently walking with a group of students, sticking weirdly close to Harry, when Hope had caught up to her. The Professor exchanged a look with Percy (who shot Hope a scathing look) and Professor Lupin and the two continued on while McGonagall hung back to speak with the girl.

"Ms. Mitchell, what is it? Unless it is of dire importance-"

"I caught my period yesterday and then he broke in hours later and I think I saw a Grim."

McGonagall froze and looked about for anyone listening. Everyone was too busy chattering about Sirius Black to pay attention to them. Gesturing for her to follow her, the professor lead Hope to her office and shut the door behind her. "Explain."

Hope explained to her everything that had happened, from her walking with Harry to getting her period while everyone was gone and then her seeing a Grim as well as the news of Black's break in. Once she was done, the woman pursed her lips and took out her wand.

"Well, as far as a Grim, I highly doubt that. It may have been a Halloween prank."

Hope's brow furrowed as she considered that. "Well... probably Slytherin... they've been giving Harry crap ever since the dementors and I think it got around, that whole Grim thing in Professor Trelawney's class."

McGonagall let out a long sigh as if she weren't surprised but continued, "Also, I find it highly unlikely that Sirius Black was after you, Mitchell." Hope had a feeling McGonangall wasn't telling her something. "Well, he's clearly after somebody, otherwise why would he break into the tower?"

"Miss Mitchell, just take comfort in the knowledge, that he is not after you. Now, come and sit."

Fuming, Hope sat down as McGonagall ran her wand over her. Hope had a sense of deja vu when the telltale gold shimmer washed over her form and McGonagall clucked her tongue in confusion. "It's still holding... How strange... But, it may be that it may hold until you are of age, meaning seventeen."

Knowing that her form of protection was still up and that the Grim was likely a Slytherin trick, Hope relaxed though she was still wondering who Black was after if not her. "Thanks, Professor." She turned to leave but then stopped. "Professor... my aunt bought me a pack of tarot cards and I had done a reading, just to see what would happen..."

The older woman arched a brow, nodding her head for her to go on. It was no secret that Professor McGonagall had little patience with Divination as it was so imprecise but she allowed the girl to continue. "And..."

"Well, at first it was fine, I was going by what the book told me... and then... it was weird, like certain combos kept popping out at me and telling me a story... The Tower was next to the Seven of Swords, upheaval and a thief or sneak... and the Tower means a place or thing or situation isn't as secure as people thought..."

The professor gave the girl an appraising look. From what she understood, Hope, though she was good friends with the Patil and Brown girls, found Trelawney and her Divination class pointless. She highly suspected the girl only took the class for an easy grade but if she were practicing a brand of Divination that wasn't being taught by that fraud, and showing a bit of an aptitude in it, then who was to say. There was also so much about this girl she didn't know.

"Well, Miss Mitchell, considering Divination is so imprecise I really would not know what to say to that matter. I would normally ask you to speak to your Divination professor-"

"I'd really rather not," Hope grumbled, making McGonagall bite back a smile.

"I figured you wouldn't. The best for you to do at this moment is put it out of your mind and focus on much more pleasant things. It is still the weekend after all and you haven't any detentions which seems to be rare for you..."

Hope huffed and sighed. "Right, Professor..." she then left the professor's office.

* * *

The relief that Hope had felt at catching her period as well as the fear from before finally waned and now all she felt was annoyance. How did women deal with this every month? She lamented loudly about how irritating such things were to her unfortunate new boyfriend.

"I mean, the fatigue and laziness are one thing, but man. Every time I change position it feels like my guts are falling out, my jeans don't fit ... And my boobs hurt!"

Fred's face turned a weird mix of red and green and he cleared his throat. "I'm.. going to..." he couldn't even think of an excuse before he disappeared out of the common room like a bat out of hell.

Hope huffed and curled up in front of the fire, glancing irritably at Harry who also had a strange look on his face. "What?"

Harry ignored her tone, used to Hermione's mood swings and even worse, Aunt Petunia's. Instead he just turned to ask her a question that had been plaguing him since last night. "Hope... remember the reading you gave me?"

Hope's demeanor changed and she nodded. "Yeah.. I was thinking about that too... Hold on, I'll be right back."

Harry watched as she gingerly got up from her seat, her face scrunched in revulsion as she stood. She then went up the stairs and came back with her cards as well as a small velvet bag that sounded like it contained rocks. She sat back in her chair, popped a few pieces of chocolate and began shuffling.

"Can we do this elsewhere?" he asked as usual and she nodded.

The two were soon in Harry's dorm again and she was shuffling the cards while Harry examined the runestones. He couldn't see how these could be read in divination, they looked like jagged chicken scratches.

"Okay... what do you want to know?"

"The same thing as yesterday..."

She handed him the cards and she shuffled them, focusing until he felt he should hand them back to her. She laid them out and flipped them over but frowned when she saw them. "It's the same as yesterday..." She gathered them up and handed them back. "Try again."

They tried several more times but the reading as always the same. Hope as getting noticeably irritable and after a while even Harry was getting frustrated.

Maybe... you can try a different layout?" Harry asked.

Hope pulled out the book and searched for a spread and at that moment the door opened. It was Ron, who was bringing in his rat Scabbers. At that moment the Seven of Swords flipped out of the deck as Harry shuffled idly. "A card flipped out." He handed it to her.

"The thief, liar and the sneak card..." Hope muttered but shrugged and handed it back.

"What's going on?" Ron asked, looking from Harry to Hope with a weird look on his face.

"She's-"

"He asked me for a relationship spread on him and Cho," Hope said easily.

Ron's face broke into a teasing grin and Harry gave Hope a poisonous look that she countered with a bright grin. "Hope, I will kill you."

"Don't worry," Ron said as he flopped on the bed with them, "I'll protect you. Fred'll kill me if I don't."

Harry just fumed at the both of them. Ron now had Hope's tarot book in his hand and his eyes sparkled with mischief. "I know! Hope, do the Air, Water, Fire, Earth relationship spread It tells of what one person thinks, feels, wants and will do with another person."

Harry gave Ron a withering glare but Hope shoved the cards into his hands. The brunette boy glared at the two and sighed, not wanting to let his worry over Sirius Black slip. "All right, fine. But this doesn't leave the room."

"Mm-hmm!"

After he was done he handed the cards back to Hope. She laid them out and then winced and bit back a giggle at the top row.

"What?" Harry asked, a lot more frantic than he would have liked.

"What she thinks of you... The Knight of Wands, the Ace of Swords and the Two of Swords."

"Well?" both Ron and Harry asked impatiently.

"She thinks you're pretty cool and brave.. and kind of cute, but she's not sure what to make of you."

Harry felt a lightness in his chest as well as his face heat up. He missed Hope and Ron's exchange of smirks and she continued. "What she feels for you... the Four of Swords, the Two of Wands and the Hanged Man... I'm honestly seeing that she wouldn't mind if something happened but she's not losing any sleep over it... it also looks like she might have someone else in mind as well... Two of Wands means picking a path to go down. And Hanged Man looks like she's really not placing much interest on you at the moment... because _someone_ isn't making any moves!" Hope nudged him with her foot.

"Next row, please?" Harry asked, happy feeling dissipating.

"What she wants to happen... Hmm... the Six of Wands, the Ace of Wands and the Eight of Swords..." Now she broke into a fit of giggles. "Well... erm... wow... That's very fiery... She _really_ wouldn't mind some stuff happening... Just be careful, we don't need two pregnancy scandals happening in the same year."

Harry's mouth dropped open and Ron hooted with laughter. "Right on, Harry!"

"Er... continue..."

"What will happen... The Nine of Pentacles, The Devil and Lovers reversed." Now Hope sported a wide grin that had Ron looking over at the cards, trying to see what she was seeing. Harry felt a tingle of anticipation at Hope's happy grin as well as the term The Lovers.

"And that means?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"It means... some drama as well as... physical gratification..." She then preceded to grab his headboard and bang it against the wall.

"HOPE!" Harry grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at her. Then he whacked Ron for good measure, who couldn't stop cackling. "Shut up, Ron!"

"What is going on in here?"

The three looked up to see an amused Fred standing in the doorway, a bottle of butterbeer in his hand as well as some sweets from Honeydukes. He had went to grab some sweets for Hope, knowing that girls did like their sweets during this time of month and had returned to have a few people tell him she had went off to talk with Harry. He popped into the third year boys dorm and found his brother there as well, dying with laughter while Hope was making crude noises and Harry looked ready to die of embarrassment.

"Fred!" Hope ran over and gave the older boy a kiss on the lips. "Just teasing Harry about the crazy rough sex he's going to have with Cho Chang."

"Damn it, Hope!" Harry fumed while Ron fell out of the bed, tears rolling from his eyes and holding his midsection. "

Fred's brow rose and he looked to the cackling Ron, the fuming Harry and the cards spread out on the bed. "I didn't know you read tarot. Are they even teaching that in Divination?"

Hope waved the comment off as she pulled him to join the others. "Nah, that old bat's loony. My aunt sent me these along with runes. She wanted me to 'learn the ways of my people' or something like that."

"She's a lot better than Trelawney in my opinion... or at least she normally is. I don't think she knows what she's talking about today..." Harry said with a fierce blush.

"You mean the part about you and Cho shagging?" Ron smirked and dodged another pillow from Harry.

"Seriously, Harry," Hope snickered, ducking behind Fred "It's all there... No frilly trappings... just..." she then took her wand and thrust it in and out of her closed fist; that caused both Weasleys to cackle.

Harry turned an even darker shade before taking a calming breath. "If you would kindly stop reflecting whatever weird stuff you want Fred to do to you onto me and Cho, that would be lovely."

Hope froze and turned a bright shade of red while Ron laughed even harder. A shocked look graced Fred's features before he pulled the girl closer to him, just having to tease her. "Really now? Hope, you naughty girl..."

"Shut up, Fred!"

"My dorm is empty..." he quipped, only teasing.

Hope huffed and he offered her a butterbeer as a peace offering as well as a bunch of chocolate and other sweets from Honeydukes. She beamed at him and gave him another kiss on the cheek. "You are, like, the best boyfriend ever!"

At that moment Ron pretended to throw up onto Harry's pillow. Fred and Hope both simultaneously flipped him off. "So, now that you're my girlfriend does this mean I have to steal you chocolate during these... weeks?" he asked and she nodded happily.

"Mm-hmm!"

"But what if I don't want to..."

Now, she pouted at him and he rolled his eyes. "Bloody hell, like I can resist that bottom lip," and to prove he couldn't he captured it in his mouth, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Um, excuse me?" Harry called, interrupting what was the beginning of Hope's first make out session "Can the two of you do that somewhere that's not our room?"

Hope giggled and pulled away, grabbing her cards back. "Okay, how about we see how you are about Cho instead... Or..." her eyes flicked to Ron, "Ron's love life?"

Ron blanched and suddenly bolted to his feet. "I just remembered, I need to be anywhere else!" And he was quickly out of the door, leaving a snickering trio behind.

* * *

The next few days, while no one else could speak of anything but Sirius Black, Harry had the worst week ever. Aside from teachers finding excuses to tail him everywhere and Percy following him around as well. (And he wouldn't even think of the lewd gestures a few people made behind the Head Boy's back. Hope's insult had quite the ripple effect)

On top of that, Hope's reading had done nothing to help his anxiety when it came to Black. While it seemed she had put it out of her mind, he was unable to. He kept seeing that Tower Card, along with the Moon card and the dog on the Moon reminded him of a Grim. Also, it seemed that whenever he tried to get her alone to ask her for another reading, she would either be off somewhere with Fred, or when he was able to get her alone, she was rather short-tempered with him.

"Oh my God, you're like a crack addict! If it didn't change the first three times afterwards, it's not gonna now! Chill the Hell out!"

However, it seemed she wasn't just annoyed with him. She was prone to snapping at everyone lately. Hermione would complain to them that she was even more surly and unpleasant than what was normal. She had even snapped at Parvati and Lavender during Transfiguration when they were doing their standard worship of Trelawney, telling Hope how she could improve her Seeing abilities which Hope did not take kindly to.

"If I wanted to have visions like that loon, I'd scry in a diarrhea filled toilet! Leave me alone!"

She had also snapped at Fred a couple of times, much to the boys shock. During Quidditch practice Harry had overheard Fred complaining about it to George to which Alicia and Katie had told him not to worry.

"She just recently started having periods, right? It takes a few months for a girl's hormones to right themselves afterwards. She's going to be off for a while..."

Speaking of Quidditch, McGonagall had tried to keep him from his practices but he would have none of it. She had come clean with him that Black was after him and that it was best if he didn't practice in the evening but he refused to hear it. After some persuasion, she relented and allowed him to practice as long as Madam Hooch oversaw them.

Also, Malfoy was still steadily playing up his fake injury to the point where Slytherin would not be playing against Gryffindor. He could be heard lamenting loudly that he would not be able to play Quidditch though Harry could clearly see the smirk on his face. It was enough to make Harry sick.

He wasn't the only one who felt this way. The whole of the Gryffindor Quidditch team had felt the same way, wanting to stomp Slytherin into the ground. Instead they were to play Hufflepuff and the new captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory, was supposed to be very good. Wood told the team that Diggory had put together a strong line up which would be challenging with the horrible weather that was on the rise.

But the worst came the day before the match. He had made his way to Defense Against the Dark Arts and instead of finding Professor Lupin, Snape was there.

"What the shit?" Hope muttered, expressing everyone's feelings on the matter.

"Today you will be covering werewolves."

Was it Harry's imagination or did Hope tense up?

Everyone tried to tell him that they did not discuss werewolves and his dismissed their claims and complaints with his usual patented brand of coldness. He asked questions and blatantly ignored Hermione who had her hand up, looking around for anyone else for an answer to his question of What were the difference between bitten werewolves and true wolves?

"What about cursed wolves?" Hope asked and Snape's brow rose as if that were the last thing he were expecting. However he dismissed her with the same coldness he did Hermione.

"We are not discussing the cursed wolves as they hold no relevance to this lecture-" Snape began.

"There's no such thing-" Hermione said snidely at the same time and Harry inwardly moaned. And girls had the nerve to say guys didn't know when to quit. One would have thought that since Snape was picking on both of them, they would squash their disagreement but no. "I've read all about werewolves and there is no mention of-"

Hope flared and whirled in her seat to glare at Hermione. "Eat my ass, Hermione! You're just jealous that I know shit that couldn't fit in that god awful hair of yours!"

The class fell silent and Harry noted that Snape's lip seemed to twitch as if he wanted nothing more than to laugh. Hermione drew herself up haughtily, nostrils flaring. "Hope, you loathsome, annoying-"

"Ten points from both of you," Snape said calmly. "As much as your classmates would enjoy a fight, it will not happen in my class. Now, both of you sit down and be quiet."

The girls huffed and turned away from each other though Hope was literally shaking with rage, her face uncharacteristically red. Snape waited a moment before continuing. "And as for your wrong information, Miss Mitchell, the cursed wolf is only a myth. I have read first hand accounts of their extinction-"

"Good for you, you're wrong."

Harry's mouth dropped open and the class held its breath as Snape walked toward her and leaned toward her until he was face to face with her. Hope's shoulder's tensed and her blue eyes narrowed, her fingers clenching the edge of her desk.

"I warned you, Miss Mitchell, what would happen if you insulted me again."

"I didn't insult you. I just told you that you were wrong. There's a difference."

"You can't expel her, only the head of the house can and she's a Gryffindor!" Parvati said haughtily.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Miss Patil and talk out of turn again and you can join Miss Mitchell in her detention. Miss Mitchell, you will sit here until the lesson is over and then we will discuss the terms of your detention."

Hope looked like she wanted nothing more than to haul off and punch Snape in the face, and probably Hermione for good measure. However she managed to keep quiet, but only Harry saw she was clenching her fists so hard that she was bleeding. The class continued with Snape going over everyone's work and insulting it as well as Professor Lupin which had most of the class looking ready to kill. He actually made Hermione cry and oddly enough Hope didn't say anything about it during the entire class. However she just looked at Snape with the utmost loathing, as if she were wondering what his brain matter would look like coating the walls.

* * *

"That son of a greasy-haired ass bitch!" Hope bellowed once the class was over and she had received her detention.

Harry moved a few paces out of the way, knowing it was probably a good idea for him to stay out of her way, especially since Hermione was on his other side giving Hope a beady-eyed glare. Girls were scary when they fought. He almost preferred the weird creatures Hagrid was so fond of.

"Is it my fault he's wrong? No! Maybe if he'd washed his fucking hair he'd have a way for new info to cling into his fucking head!"

Harry and Seamus just exchanged glances before the other boy hurried off. And he couldn't deny he was relieved when she veered off and headed for the girl's toilet. However as she left Harry noticed a snickering Malfoy and to his amazement, the Slytherin boy looked as if he were, as Hope had crudely put it during Halloween, eye-banging the American. He elbowed Ron who also noticed as he had arched brows and a dropped jaw.

It seemed they weren't the only ones who noticed. Pansy Parkinson had also seen it and had turned and followed the girl into the bathroom, along with her group of female thugs.

T.T.T.T

Hope rinsed her face in the sink, sighing with relief when the cool water hit her skin. She was so pissed off! First Hermione and then Snape. And it wasn't just that, it seemed everything and everyone was irritating her soul! She honestly debated on missing dinner so she wouldn't snap at someone who didn't deserve it, like Parvati or Fred. She had been short with them for most of the week but now, she didn't want to chance hurting their feelings and damaging her relationships beyond repair.

"Mitchell!"

Hope lifted her head and sighed at what she saw behind her in the mirror. As much as she felt like a rabid dog she really didn't want to deal with a bitch who looked like one. "What the Hell do you want, Parkinson?" Her brow arched when her two lackeys, Blustrode and Greengrass entered as well.

The Slytherin girl walked up to her, hard expression on her face. "Just because you have a penchant for Pure Bloods doesn't mean you can slut around Draco. You think I don't know what you're up to? Sashaying your fat ass in lunch? Tits bouncing around like you're riding a unicorn?"

Hope sighed and turned to face her, cracking her neck as the anticipation for a fight filled her bones. "Not my fault if he likes pretty girls... but that begs the question... What's he doing with you?"

Pansy flared but then flicked her eyes to Blustrode and just said "Millie..."

On cue, Millicent grabbed Hope around the shoulders and whirled her around, holding her by the arms so she couldn't get away. Hope twisted and writhed, spewing curses at the Slytherin girls before the wind was knocked out of her. Pansy had punched her clean in the stomach. Hope curled over, cough and gagging before a punch from Parkinson had her seeing stars.

"Let's see how pretty you'll be now!" Pansy yelled with glee.

Hope heard the sound of a gasp from the door and then a thud and a grunt and she was let go. Dropping to the floor, she looked up to see Parvati tackling Pansy to the ground and behind her Millicent let out a cry as Ginny Weasley came running in, aiming her wand suddenly bats came spewing from Millicent's nose. So that was the Bat-Bogey Hex Fred had told her about.

"Hope! Are you all right?" Parvati asked, pulling the girl to her feet.

Hope nodded, her nose gushing blood and she pulled out her wand, aiming a jinx at Pansy that had maggots spewing from her mouth. The Slytherin screamed and keeled over, coughing the vermin into the nearest sink. As she retched, Hope sent a hard kick to the girl's side, making her fall to the floor.

Hope's vision went red, all thought and reason went out the window and was replaced with one desire: Pansy's pain. An animalistic cry ripped from her throat and she pounced on the girl, pounding her fist into her face.

"YOU STUPID SLUT!"

Arms seized her around the waist and she threw her head back, her skull connecting with someone's nose and mouth. There was a cry from behind as whoever it was fell over but she paid no heed, all she wanted to do was pummel Pansy.

The girl raked her nails down her face, leaving bloody trails over the Slytherin's face.

Maim her.

An image of Pansy's ripped open throat and dead staring eyes cut across her vision and it filled her with a euphoric delight and she longed to make it real.

_Kill her. _

Something like a battering ram tackled her from the side and she was unable act out on her desire. Her vision cleared and a bloody-nosed Parvati straddled her. Hope fought, trying to free herself but a harsh crack and her face lashing to the side snapped her out of her bloodlust. Parvati had slapped her. The red faded from her vision and she caught her breath, looking up at her friend. Horror replaced the rage when she saw Parvati's face.

"Parvati... did I..." she scrambled up and brought a trembling hand to her lips, whimpering in shame when her best friend took a step back from her in fear.

"Just... forget it," Parvati hissed and stormed out. Ginny looked back and forth between to two before following after Parvati, leaving Hope alone with the Slytherins.

Pansy got to her feet, her hand cradling her face and the look she gave Hope promised nothing but pain as she, Millicent and Daphne left the bathroom.

* * *

They didn't snitch on each other after the fight, because if they did they would all earn detentions and more house points taken off. Hope and Pansy just silently vowed to get each other back. Parvati had went to Madam Pomfrey and Lavender told Hope later that night that the girl had made up a story about tripping in the hall and falling flat on her face.

Hope sat in the hallway of an empty corridor. Her mind went over the events of the day, her sniping at everyone. Hermione and Snape followed by the fight she had with Pansy. She had wanted to kill her. She would have! She almost broke Parvati's nose. She was so ashamed that she was afraid to show her face in the common room, let alone her dorm. She didn't even go to dinner.

"Hope?"

Fred's voice came from next to her and she jumped. "Where'd you come from?"

George was also with him and he cleared his throat, sensing a boyfriend-girlfriend moment. "I'll be in the common room. Need to get there before Big Head Boy comes lurking."

He disappeared, leaving his twin with the young girl. Once he was gone she sighed and vented her feelings. "Fred... I don't know what's going on with me..."

The boy sat down next to her and pulled her to him, running his hands through her hair. The touch felt extremely good and she leaned into it, giving a little hum of approval.

"Ron told me what you said to Snape, and that was bloody brilliant" he said with a smile and her lips quirked a bit. "Ginny told me about the fight. She said she's never seen anything that scary, not even mum in a rage... and that's saying something. But considering it was Pansy, does it really matter?"

Hope sat up and looked him fully in the face. "You don't get it... I didn't just punch her and jinx her... I wanted..." she swallowed, closing her eyes. Saying the words would make it real. "I wanted to kill her. If Ginny hadn't zapped me, I would have. And I backwards head-butted Parvati when she tried to pull me off of her."

"Well those girls jumped you, three on one. I would've been hard pressed not to do the same," Fred told her seriously. "Ginny told me Parvati's not mad at you. She thinks you must've thought she were Millicent or Daphne since she grabbed you from behind... Though, I don't think she wants to talk to you right now..."

"Ugh.. I just... I really don't want to think about any of this right now... it's like, my brain shuts off and... something else just takes over. I think I have issues."

Fred, not knowing what to say to that, did the one thing he could think of. Tilting her face up, he gave her a gentle kiss on the mouth. Hope tensed and then melted against him. His arms wrapped around her back and hers around his neck.

It was like a switch was flipped and her brain shut off, but instead of rage, another primal need took over. Moaning against his mouth she parted her lips and ran her tongue over his bottom lip, making him tense against her before deepening the kiss. His tongue delved into her mouth and she whimpered, sliding her hand into his hair to hold his head, tongue battling with his. Fred groaned into her mouth and slid his hand down her back, his fingers slipping under her shirt to rub the skin of her waist. A shudder racked her frame and it was like her body went on autopilot. She moved without realizing it, straddling his thighs and kissing him hard.

With much difficulty, Fred stood, bringing Hope with him. "As much as I want to keep doing this, not here..."

Hope looked ready to protest when a loud meow caught both of their attention. Fred paled and rolled his eyes. "Mrs. Norris... meaning Filch can't be far behind..."

"Son of a cock-blocking-" Hope muttered as Fred tugged her along.

They ducked through corridors, ran up the stairs, trying to get away from the caretaker before Hope was landed with another detention. She couldn't help thinking that they needed somewhere to hide.

"In here!" Fred whispered as they turned a corner, pulling her inside of a door.

The room was huge, filled with lots and lots of junk. Random things it looked like people had tossed in over the years. It must have been a storage room. She ducked behind a large cabinet while Fred listened at the door. After a while she saw his shoulders relax and he came over to join her.

"Looks like we lost him."

Hope grinned and laughed, enjoying the giddiness of the moment. She looked around at all the stuff in the room. Fanged Frisbees, weird congealed potions and... were those egg shells? Clearly something that wasn't a chicken.

"I think those are dragon egg shells. My brother works with them," Fred explained.

"Oh..." she stood and walked around, finding some broken furniture and what looked like one of the squishy sleeping bags from Halloween. Grabbing it, she draped it over a couch that had the stuffing popping out of it and sat down.

Fred joined her and wrapped an arm around her and it occurred to her that they were finally, for the first time, truly alone. No sneaking off to make out or given time limits from Fred's dorm mates.

It seemed Fred was thinking the same thing. His arm slithered around her shoulders and she leaned into his embrace, tilting her face up to meet his lips. What started out sweet and gentle soon escalated to what had transpired in the hall. Her brain clicked off and she gave into that baser need as she had been wont to do today. Hope sighed into his mouth and ran her fingers through his hair, down his back, up his chest. Her head tilted back and his lips traveled from her mouth to her neck, causing her to gasp. His grip around her back tightened and he moved so she was on her back and he hovered over her, returning his lips to her neck.

"Fred..."

"Hmm?" his lips traveled up to her ear and he sucked the lobe into his mouth, making her toes curl. His mouth traveled back to her neck and he swiped his tongue over the skin and she let out a shuddering gasp. What prompted her next words, she had no idea, but they fell from her lips before her brain could get a handle on them.

"Bite my neck..."

If he thought her request was strange, he didn't comment on it. He gently nipped her neck and she squeaked in pleasure but it wasn't enough. "Harder..." He complied, sinking his teeth into the flesh of her neck, gripping her hard around the waist. Hope let out a shuddering moan and he bit her harder, his hand sliding up her body to squeeze her breast.

"Oh my god..."

The sting of his bite along with his hands massaging her breast caused a flood of desire to spread through her. Her head dipped and she nipped the shell of his ear, making him groan into her flesh. He lifted his head and kissed her hard, his tongue doing to her mouth what she was sure he wanted to do to other parts of her body. She moved her head, kissing down his jaw and to his neck, running her tongue over it and delighting in the shudder that racked his frame before sinking her teeth into his skin. Fred let out a harsh, loud moan at her actions and ground his hips into hers, making her whimper into his throat.

"Bloody hell, Hope..." his hands traveled to her hips and he gave her butt a healthy squeeze. "You have no idea how badly I want you right now..."

She had an idea how much he wanted her. The evidence of it was pressed against her inner thigh and sent a new flood through her. All rationale had gone out the window and she pulled her mouth away from his neck to look him in the eye.

"Why don't you give me an idea..."

Fred stilled and pulled back, staring down at her with wide brown eyes. "Are you sure?"

A small bit of caution returned, waving a sign that flashed "IN OVER YOUR HEAD" through her brain but her base need gave it a swift kick. She ran a nervous tongue over her lips and his eyes followed the movement. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and brought her lips to his, giving him another deep kiss.

"I'm sure."

His hands then drifted to her hips but then froze. Her eyes snapped open. Why was he stopping?

"Fred..."

The boy let out a long suffering sigh before lifting up. "I can't believe I'm saying this... but, we should stop..."

Hope sat up, and incredulous look on her face. "Erm, why?" Now horror flooded her. Did she do something wrong? Was she not cute enough? Did he want some mature fifth year like himself instead of her?

"Because..." he let out another sigh "... you're upset... and I don't want to take advantage of you..."

Hope blinked. Oh. He was being chivalrous.

"Plus... you've never done this before and I don't think it should be in dusty storeroom," Fred said as he took a deep breath to get himself under control.

Hope's instincts were calling for her to shut him up with her lips and tongue but she took a deep breath to try and bring her brain back. Her instincts had gotten her in enough trouble today. "Okay..." she grumbled.

They sat in awkward silence before Hope spoke up again. "So, wait... Have you done it before?"

Fred now had the grace to look embarrassed. "Once..."

Hope's mouth fell open. "When?"

"End of last year... I'd just turned fifteen... and..." he gestured vaguely.

"Who?"

"Don't worry about it."

"One of the girls on the team?"

"No."

"It wasn't a Slytherin, was it?"

Now he glared at her. "What the fuck do I look like?" he asked, clearly insulted.

Now Hope giggled. "An adorable redhead."

"I'll accept this," Fred smiled.

The silence was now easy but Hope broke it again. "So... now what? Should we go back?"

"Do you want to go back?"

The shame of her actions in the bathroom had her shaking her head. "Not really..." Her stomach growled. "But, I am hungry..."

"I have a remedy for that." Fred grabbed his bag and pulled out a few apples, chocolate frogs and a bottles of pumpkin fizz.

"Yay!" Hope squealed and they happily ate their food. Once they were done, Hope nervously glanced at him. "I know you said we can't... y'know..." How weird was it that she could make such crude jokes with her friends but around him she was awkward and tongue-tied? "But... erm... can we..." Oh, screw it. "Can we still make out? Or... snog or whatever you call it?"

"Hmmm..." Fred pretended to think and she swatted his arm. "Sure, I suppose..." he said as if it were chore, earning another swat from her. Laughing, Fred pulled her to stand and took out his wand, pointing it at the couch. "Reparo." The stuffing went back inside the upholstery and the broken legs fixed themselves. "Engorgio." Now the couch grew twice its size which meant for more room to lie down. He then pulled her back onto the now double-sized couch and snuggled her, pulling the sleeping bag over them as he took her mouth again.

* * *

It wass the morning of the match of Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff and Parvati was sitting down for breakfast with Lavender and Padma. She had been to Madam Pomfrey about her nose and was feeling better though Padma and Lavender kept giving her worried looks.

"I'm fine, really. And I'm not upset with Hope. I grabbed her from behind so she probably thought I was Greengrass or something."

Lavender and Padma both relaxed at that. They had missed Hope at breakfast and wanted to see her so they could set things straight.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before Parkinson got her butt kicked," Lavender said as she glared at the Slytherin table. Pansy had her head resting on Draco's shoulder, playing up her fight.

"Has anyone seen Hope" Padma asked.

"She didn't come up at all for bed," Lavender commented. "Though Ginny said she was sulking in the hall last she saw her."

Parvati pursed her lips and looked about. "Well, she's sure to be down later. There's no way she'll miss the match, especially now that Fred's her boyfriend."

At last the girl in question made an appearance. She came into the Great Hall, hand in hand with Fred Weasley as usual. Her face was bright red and her eyes kept flicking to the older boy which was weird considering they had been together for well over a month now. They also noticed Fred kept stealing glances at her as well.

Hope seemed to realize she was being watched and she paled when she saw Parvati. She turned, saying a quick goodbye to Fred who gave her a hug as well as a kiss before heading to the Gryffindor team. Hope slowly made her way over to her group, purposely avoiding Parvati's eyes.

"Hey... I'm-"

"Hope, I'm not mad at you. Madam Pomfrey fixed my nose and you probably thought I was Millicent or someone. I forgive you."

Visibly relaxing, Hope sat down next to her friend and helped herself to some breakfast. She was oddly quiet which had Lavender and Parvati exchanging glances over the girl's head. However, Hope barely took notice, she kept glancing down the table at Fred who was doing the same with her. Fed up with the suspense, Lavender cleared her throat.

"Okay, what's going on with you two?"

Hope looked up in confusion, though her cheeks were still red. "Huh?"

"You two keep glancing back and forth and blushing, like you've just finished your first snogging session but considering I walked in on you in the common room after the incident with Sirius Black I know that's not the case."

Hope blushed and said nothing, going back to her food. Padma's brow furrowed before she straightened, mouth falling open. "Hope... They said you didn't go to the common room last night? Where were you?"

"Hey Fred, where were you last night?" George's voice sounded from a little ways down.

Padma turned back to Hope, eyes growing wide by the minute. "He wasn't there either? Was he with you?"

Parvati whipped her head to her so fast it was a miracle she didn't break her neck. "Hope...?"

The girl blushed deeper and practically buried her face in her food but her silence was enough of an answer. Lavender gasped and dropped her spoon while Parvati stared at her in astonishment.

"You didn't..." Padma declared, eyes still wide.

"No! Though, we went a little farther than usual..."

Lavender bolted from her seat and grabbed Hope by the arm, dragging her toward the nearest exit, Parvati and Padma following. The poor girl was dragged all the way to an empty classroom, knowing better than to converse in the bathrooms after the fight.

"Tell us everything!" Lavender squealed.

"What was it like?" Padma breathed.

"Did it hurt?"

"Who made the first move?"

"Where did you do it?"

"Did it hurt?"

"How big is he?"

"Oh my God!" Hope cried, burying her face in her hands. "We didn't do it... I mean... We came close but... Ugh, I'll tell you pervs after the match!" She then swept out of the room, the three silly girls skittering after her, prying for more details.

* * *

The four girls sat high in the stands, hiding underneath their umbrellas though it was futile. They were already soaked to the bone. The harsh wind chilled their skin and they could hardly hear the sound of their own cheering due to the thunder. Hope's heart gave a little jump when she saw Fred on the field as the two teams came out. She pointedly ignored the disbelieving looks from Lavender and Parvati and focused on the start of the match, deciding to tease Padma instead.

"Y'know, once you hook up with Diggory, what side will you support when Hufflepuff goes against Ravenclaw?"

"Shut up, Hope..." Padma muttered.

Madam Hooch blasted her whistle and they were off. Gryffindor was doing well against Hufflepuff and Hope made certain to cheer extra loud when certain redheads (she really couldn't tell them apart when they played) batted bludgers at the opposing team. As she watched them she remembered the first time she had seen a Quidditch match and how epic Harry had been though he caught the snitch in his mouth. It was so bizarre that she couldn't even bring herself to tease him about it because she was so happy at the curb stomping Slytherin received.

"C'mon Cedric!" Padma cried, jolting Hope from her reverie.

"Hey! Take your ass to the Hufflepuff side if you're going to spout that blasphemy!" Hope snarled and Lavender and Parvati hissed at her in agreement, causing Padma to shrug and sit quietly

Harry flew around the field, trying to keep an eye out for the snitch. However, was Hope's eyes playing tricks on her or did he pause and stare toward the stands, right where she was sitting? She frowned and glanced behind her, seeing nothing. Figuring he thought he saw the snitch, she shrugged it off.

"Oh no!" Parvati squealed, pointing.

Cedric was pelting up the field, he had seen the snitch. Hope moaned in anguish and screamed to the top of her lungs. "HARRY! THE SNITCH!" along with the rest of the Gryffindor crowd right as Wood called the same thing.

Harry whirled on his broom and took off after Diggory. Hope and Lavender hugged each other in suspense as the bespectacled boy caught up to the Hufflepuff.

"C'MON HARRY!" They heard Ron yell from somewhere to their far left before someone else screamed.

"Oh my God!"

Hope ran toward the edge of the stands and shrieked. Over a hundred dementors were standing on the field. Her eyes flitted, full of panic to the team on their brooms. Fred and George seemed fine as did everyone else. However to her horror, as if in slow motion, Harry fell off of his broom, at least fifty feet. There were screams, one of them her own and she felt her stomach lurch as Harry dropped. However, it seemed he was at least floated gently the rest of the way down and she could make out the Headmaster as he ran to the field. There was a moment of shaky relief.

Then the cold of the rain felt like nothing more than a small chill compared to the cold that seeped into her bones. And worse than the cold, the despair. The feeling that nothing was worth it. That she was worthless. Why bother? Why even pretend...

She staggered back, smashing herself into a corner of the stands. Tears mixed with the rain and she slid down, curling herself into a ball. Her hand grazed her hip, felt for her wand and she drew it out.

Parvati whimpered as the dementors sucked every good feeling from her and she shrank back, trying to get away from their influence. She was vaguely aware of Lavender whimpering along with Padma and she searched for Hope, stomach dropping in panic when she found her.

"Hope! What are you doing?!"

Parvati was frozen, watching horror as Hope took out her wand and angled it toward her wrist. A stream of silver and black shot from the tip, burning it open.

"HOPE!" Parvati wrestled the wand from her but it was too late. Her arm was slashed open from wrist to elbow, blood flowing heavily. The girl whimpered and slumped to the ground, staring up blankly. "Hope, stay with me!" She then looked around for anyone to help. The audience's attention was at the field, no one noticed a frightened girl holding her friend as she bled out. "Somebody help!"

Ginny Weasley appeared at her side and shrieked when she saw the older girl's arm. Parvati grabbed her by the robes and yanked her forward, "Get someone now!"

Ginny whimpered but ran in the direction of the teachers. Dumbledore had already gone onto the field but Professor McGonagall was still there, her face white with horror.

"Professor McGonagall!" The older woman heard the girl's frantic scream and before she could ask what happened, the small girl yanked her to the corner where Parvati held part of her cloak to Hope's bleeding wrist. McGonagall bit back a shriek and fell to her knees beside the girls.

"Patil, what happened?"

"She- I- The dementors... They made her try to kill herself!"

Minerva quickly conjured bandages and had started to wrap the girl's arm but stopped when she saw it was slowly healing on it's own. What was a gaping three inch wound as now only an inch thick. She cast a quick glance to Parvati who had stood back but didn't seem to see what that her friend had healed herself. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she gestured for Percy Weasley who was looking over the stands in shock as they took Harry Potter to the hospital wing.

"Weasley! Come help me with her!"

Percy appeared at her side in an instant, face going white at the sight of the girl. She made certain to keep the arm covered as the boy lifted her into his arms.

* * *

When Harry came to in the hospital wing, he noticed he was surrounded by the mud-caked and soaked Gryffindor team along with Hermione and Ron. As per usual the dementors caused him to faint, though he had no clue what happened during the match. Also, though he refused to admit it, he thought he saw a Grim, this time in the stands.

"HARRY!"

People were all clamoring around him, visibly shaken and relieved. What had happened during that match? And did someone get his Nimbus?

"Guys? What happened?" he asked and the others all froze and Harry had a sinking feeling he was not going to like the news.

T.T

"Hold on, Hope!"

Once on solid ground McGonagall had levitated Hope onto a stretcher just as Dumbledore had done for Harry earlier. Percy was on one side of her and she on the other, the Patil twins and Lavender trailing behind them. She could hear one of the girls' sobs as they made their way to the hospital wing.

"What happened to her arm? It's all healed." Parvati asked and McGonagall lurched.

"Oh, yes... I do know a healing charm for cut flesh. Quite simple really," she muttered as they turned down another corridor. Parvati seemed to buy this.

* * *

They had lost the match. Apparently Diggory caught the snitch right when he fell and had wanted a rematch but they one fair and square. The fact that his issues with the dementors cost them the match hurt worse than he thought it would. Fred had tried to comfort him while the others were mainly happy he was alive. However, he refused to accept their comforts and the team had uneasily left the hospital wing.

About ten minutes later Ron and Hermione had told him that his beloved broom, his Nimbus 2000 had been destroyed by the Whomping Willow. It was like rubbing salt into an already festering wound.

Harry barely had time to lament the loss of his broom when another noise caught his attention. There seemed to be much excitement happening outside, getting closer to the wing. Ron and Hermione looked at each other in confusion, wondering what else had gone wrong today.

"Get her in quickly. Hurry!"

McGonagall swept into the room, not casting a glance at the three. Percy Weasley was swept in with a soaked brunette figure in his arms and Lavender and the Patil twins rushing in behind him, all of them very pale.

Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office just as Percy laid the limp girl on one of the beds and Harry's stomach gave a lurch when he saw it was Hope.

"What happened?" Ron asked in shock, more than likely terrified for his brother's sake.

Even Hermione looked shaken and it was clear she had no like for the girl. "What's wrong with her? Did she pass out like Harry?"

Harry watched wide-eyed. If she passed out in the stands, it was fine. Madam Pomfrey would force feed her chocolate until she was all better. However, they could tell it was worse than that when they saw the blood that soaked Parvati's gold sweater as well as the foot long slit in Hope's pink sleeve that was rimmed with blood.

"The dementors..." McGonagall's voice hitched and she was shaking, placing a hand on Ron's soaked shoulder as she started to explain but Lavender beat her to it.

"She tried to kill herself!" Lavender shrieked, causing the three to fall silent. "They made her try to kill herself!"

Ron's eyes nearly fell from his skull and Hermione gasped in shock. Harry tried to sit up but Madam Pofrey had pushed him back down to his bed and ushered Ron and Hermione out as well as Lavender and the Patils.

"How did she do it?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she gave Hope a once over, checking her pulse.

"According to Miss Patil she tried to cut open her wrist with her wand." The Gryffindor Head of House hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I managed to seal up her arm with a spell I learned during the first war."

"And good thing you did!" Madam Pomfrey cried, examining the giant slit on Hope's sleeve. "Look at the length of this cut, she would have bled out in moments!"

McGonagall paled before clearing her throat. "Will she be all right?"

"I believe so. She'll wake up soon but I want to keep her over the weekend along with Mr. Potter."

McGonagall nodded her approval before heading for the door. "Very well, Poppy. I'll be back later tonight to check on them." She then stopped and turned to Harry and gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm terribly sorry about your broom, Potter."

Harry gave a small nod and watched as the woman left the room. He had lifted his head to watch what Madam Pomfrey care for Hope but he laid back down at the stern look she gave him and he couldn't help wondering, couldn't help thinking... That Grim that he had seen in the stands, it was directly behind Hope.

* * *

Rebekah sighed as she down another glass of wine while sipping on a blood bag. She had finally finished Attack on Titan and was now indulging in a marathon of _Archer_, shaking her head at the idiocy. Christmas couldn't get here fast enough. She was running out of silly things to watch to keep her occupied. Aside from that, she had no clue how she was going to keep ducking and dodging more inquires from her brothers. They wanted to speak with Hope but she was unable to arrange that until the holidays.

Getting up, she went to fetch another bottle while cursing her vampire constitution when it came to the ability to hold alcohol. Just as she reached for a glass she paused, her vampire hearing picking up a heartbeat and footsteps outside of her door. They came to a stop. Was it her nosy neighbor again?

Sighing, she opened the door before whoever was there could even knock and she nearly dropped her glass when she saw it was Minerva, completely drenched due to the storm.

"What... What's going on?"

Minerva entered the living room, and with a flick of her wand she was dry and no longer dripping on Rebekah's floor. She then fixed the vampire with a hard stare.

"Is this about Hope?" Rebekah asked, stomach sinking to her fabulous boots.

"Yes, it is," Minerva declared sternly and shut the door behind her. "What is she?"

**So, yeah... Considering Lupin was not in class we all know what moon phase it was. And if we all recall Vampire Diaries, Tyler either became highly violent or highly sexual during the full moon before he was activated... yeah... Well, Hope almost went there but not completely. We'll find out what happened next chapter. And also, what's up with the Dementors' effect on Hope? **


	11. Chapter 11

"Perce? What happened to you?"

George and Fred were on their way to sneak some food from the kitchens for Harry. Also, Fred was planning on stealing Hope away for a bit. After the fright he had watching Harry fall, as well as the loss of the match, he could use her crude humor and her kisses. His mind sometimes flashed back to last night and he had to stop the stupid grin from spreading over his face lest he receive a load of teasing from his brother. The girl had left quite the hickey on his neck from last night but he was surprised when he didn't leave any.

However, they ran into their older brother who was drenched. Figuring he was just at the match, that was nothing out of place. When he saw them, the older boy visibly paled and braced himself as he approached his brothers.

"Fred, I'm afraid I have some terrible news. The dementors... well... aside from Harry, they got to Hope as well."

Both boys froze and George cast a worried glance to his twin. "Did she pass out?" George asked as Fred seemed to have lost the ability to speak. If she passed out in the stands, then she would've been fine. A teacher would have taken her to the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey would force feed her chocolate, but she would be fine.

"She..." Percy actually faltered, and that's when they knew something was really wrong.

"Percy...?" Fred finally asked, all color drained from his face. He was also trembling.

"She tried to kill herself. She took her wand and tried to blast open her wrist. Luckily McGonagall managed to do a quick healing charm on her. She's in the hospital ward-" Percy never got to finish since Fred took off at top speed and George took off after him.

* * *

Harry was still contemplating the Grim and what he had heard when the dementors came for him when he heard running footsteps. Right as he looked up, Fred and George came rounding into the wing, however they paid no attention to him.

Fred's face was sheet white when he took in the prone figure on the bed next to Harry's. Hope had been changed into hospital pajamas and she was still asleep, pale and shivering as if the covers weren't enough to keep her warm.

"I... I saw her when they brought her in..." Harry said, wanting to break the awful silence. "Her arm was healed but her shirt was slashed... McGonagall healed her. Parvati, Lavender and Padma came with her."

Fred said nothing, only walked slowly toward her bed. George had to make him sit in a chair as he seemed to forget to sit.

"Mmph..." they all snapped back to her when the girl let out a frail whimper. "No... I'm not... abomination... fuck you, Esther..."

Fred's brow pinched and George looked just as clueless. Harry remembered what she had told him about her grandmother as well as the boggart and got out of his bed, shaking her shoulders. "Hope, wake up. You're dreaming."

"... no... kill...you... sacrifice..."

Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes and Harry jerked when he felt a burst of heat next to him. George and Fred scrambled back, eyes wide as a sudden fire set the curtains ablaze. Now both of them rushed over and helped Harry wake the unconscious girl.

"What is going on? Oh my-" Madmam Pofrey had rushed in to see what the noise was about and gasped at the flames. Quickly, she drew her wand and whirled it at the curtains, extinguishing them wordlessly before turning to the scene before her.

"Hope!"

Hope's eyes snapped open and she found herself ensnared by brilliant green. Her heart pounded and she let out a pained gasp, the remnants of her dream clinging to her like tentacles. She looked around to see the frightened faces of Harry, Fred and George. Her nose twitched at the smell of smoke and she gasped when she saw the charred curtains to her right.

"What... What?"

"You were having a nightmare, Hope..." Harry explained slowly. "And you set the curtains on fire..."

Hope blinked, sitting up and running a hand through her hair. "Um..."

A large block of chocolate was placed into her hands by Madam Pomfrey before she could explain herself. "I've seen accidental magic happen before during nightmare, but never to that degree. However, considering what you've been through I'd say its hardly a surprise! Now, you eat that and get some rest."

"Can they stay for a bit?" Hope asked hopefully. "I don't want to go back to sleep right now..."

The old witch sighed in annoyance but nodded, going back into her office.

Once she was gone, Hope turned to the boys around her bed. All of them were giving her such worried looks that she wanted to sink into the covers. Finally, Fred moved toward her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Hope, I'm going to need you to stop scaring the shit out of me," he breathed into her hair, kissing her temple.

Hope relaxed in his arms, instantly feeling better. His hands went into her hair and she let out a lengthy sigh, momentarily forgetting the horror of the day. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault," George said as he sat on the side of her bed.

"Those things are right nightmares, like I told you," Fred told her, still running his hand through her hair. He seemed to realize the calming effect it had on her.

Hope shivered as it all came back to her. The rain, the cold. The ice in her veins followed by the hopelessness, the fear, the feeling that life wasn't worth living and if she didn't do something about it nothing would ever be right. She remembered, vaguely, Parvati screaming and a sharp pain in her wrist and then nothing. That's when the nightmares started.

"What happened?" she asked finally. She then glanced to the boy who had shaken her awake and remembered his horrible fall. "Harry, are you okay? I saw you fall right before..."

The boy gave a one shouldered shrug but she could see the haunted look in his eyes. "I'm fine. Apparently Dumbledore floated me down before I crashed..."

Hope sighed with relief, remembering something along those lines. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but George spoke up instead. "From what I heard, you lost it when the dementors came and McGonagall saved you by healing up your arm. Then she and Percy brought you here."

"Where is she now?" Hope asked. "I want to thank her."

"I haven't seen her," Harry said finally. "Not since she brought you in here."

* * *

"What?"

The Original went rigid, throat swallowing at the question from Minerva. What had happened for her to figure out that Hope wasn't a standard witch?

"What is she, Rebekah?" Minerva asked again, not flinching. "She was injured severely and healed herself within moments."

Rebekah fixed the woman with a harsh stare. "What do you mean she was injured? Was it that little Pansy bitch?"

At the worried look on the vampire's face, Minerva softened just a bit. "Considering it is school policy to inform a parent of such an incident, I am inclined to tell you that... she tried to kill herself earlier today."

A broken gasp left Rebekah's throat and the wine glass fell from her grasp. Minerva flicked her wand and caught the glass before it shattered and spilled, floating it to the coffee table. One look at the Original and all of her fear and worry left her and was filled with sympathy. The blond had shakily collapsed onto the couch, tears falling from her eyes. A sob caught in her throat and she buried her face in her hands.

"W-why? Why would she do that?! I thought she... I th-thought she was happy. I did everything to make her happy!"

Was Hope really so unhappy with what she was? Unhappy with her?

When a supporting arm wrapped around her shoulder, Rebekah flung herself into the embrace, crying hard into the witch's shoulder.

"I am quite certain that it had nothing to do with the way you brought her up. But, it seemed that the reason behind Hope's actions was due to the Dementors."

Rebekah's brow furrowed. "The grim reaper things she wrote about? She said they were creepy but-"

"Oh they are more than merely 'creepy', Rebekah. They are some of the foulest creatures that walk the Earth. Given the choice I would rather meet my end by you than one of those."

Rebekah's brows arched as she wiped her eyes. "They're that bad?" Then her eyes narrowed dangerously, the telltale veins began bulging around her eyes, causing the woman to shrink back and grip her wand tighter. "You had those things around my Hope? What the fuck are you thinking, having things like that around my niece?! Around children at all!?"

Having received many letters from parents about the dementors being housed around the school, Minerva wasn't so much shocked by her words than by the fact she was so mad she almost flashed fangs. "The dementors guard the wizard Prison of Azkaban and one of their convicts has escaped. He recently showed up at Hogwarts on Halloween, however he escaped. Now, the dementors are not allowed on the grounds, Dumbledore has made certain of that. However, they disobeyed him and had come onto the grounds during a Quidditch match."

"Ohh... they disobeyed him?" Rebekah said scathingly as she grabbed her wine glass and took a large swig from it before going to the liquor cabinet to get a bottle of whiskey. "Naughty little things. I suppose that makes it all all right then?"

"No, Rebekah, none of this is all right. None of us want these things at the school, least of all Dumbledore. He's had a right time of it when another student nearly died during the match. The dementors affect this boy so badly that he fell, fifty feet, from his broom! The boy is fine and recovering in the hospital ward. Hope, it seems, was sitting with her friends when the dementors influence washed over her and she tried to slit her wrists with her wand. Her friends brought me over to help and that's when I saw she was nearly healed. By the time I got her to the hospital ward, she was healed." Now Minerva stood. "How is that possible?"

"It's an ability she's always had, self healing..." Rebekah said after a while. "She's played all manner of sports. Tennis, soccer, softball... I think the only reason she didn't try out for Quidditch is that she's afraid of heights. She's also had ballet training due to my prodding, and that art is Hell on the toes. She's never once had an injury that has lasted for more than a day."

Minerva thought back to the day she had first met her and remembered her saying the child was being hunted. Their were some who would think a self healing witch was an abomination. She could just see a bunch of ignorant muggles and wizard-folk alike, spouting nonsense about the Anti-Christ being among them.

"Is this ability... the reason she was being hunted as a baby."

_That and so much more._ Rebekah only nodded, "The ones who were... are hunting her, they wanted to kill her because they thought she was evil as well as sacrifice her for some stupid ritual. They tried to kill her mother the moment she was born and nearly sacrificed her on an altar but she was saved, given to me..." she took another swig of her liquor and handed Minerva a glass.

After what she had just heard, Minerva tossed the whiskey back like water and held her hand out for a refill. Rebekah arched an amused brow and complied. "I love a woman who can drink."

"After fire whiskey, this isn't much but it's not bad," though Minerva had to turn her head and grimace, signaling it was stronger than she thought it would be. "Where are her parents?"

"Still in America." Rebekah leaned against the counter. "Now, what do those dementors do?"

"They... feed on happiness... until all you are left with is every horrible thought and feeling. Now, most children at the school do not feel it to such a degree. They claim they feel cold, like they would never be cheerful again. Now, the boy who fell off of his broom is a special case. He has gone through much so they affect him more than the other children. As for Hope, it could be the same thing, though if it all happened the moment she was born, not when it had time to wrap itself in her subconscious, I don't see how... Maybe they are stronger than we thought." She then continued after a brief pause, "Now, what they will do to the criminal once he is found is the reason I would much rather have you snap my neck if given the choice. They literally suck the soul from you, leaving only a shell. You have no memory, no sense of self. You cannot recover, nor return as a ghost or move on."

Rebekah's glass lowered to the counter and she stared at Minerva with horrified disgust on her face. "What the bloody Hell did this man do?!"

When Minerva's face darkened and she put her glass down, Rebekah could tell it was something awful.

"He betrayed us during the war, served as a double agent for our enemies. He killed twelve muggles and betrayed his best friend and his wife, resulting in their deaths, as well as killed his other best friend, blew him apart. He was sentenced to life in Azkaban but he escaped so now, he will receive the Dementors' Kiss."

"That's what they call it?" Rebekah shuddered. Not much could give her chill, other than being daggered in a box or death but that. "What's being done for Hope now?"

"She's being cared for by the school nurse, Madam Pomrey. I believe she wants to keep Hope on suicide watch over the weekend. She is not to leave the hospital ward until Monday. Dumbledore was in a right fury after what happened with the boy and I left to find you before I found out if he heard about Hope, though by now I'm sure he has. They won't enter the grounds again."

"He's strong enough to keep something that repulsive and evil away?" Rebekah asked, clearly disbelieving.

"Oh yes. In fact he's the only one our enemy feared during the war."

Rebekah pursed her lips and sighed. "Very well... I'll let her remain there. Although honestly I'd love nothing more than to go to the school and keep an eye on her myself, maybe even hunt for the criminal since I don't want those things near my Hope."

"I seriously doubt the headmaster will want an Original Vampire on the grounds any less than the dementors."

"Why not? I can't compel witches and wizards... Plus, I really want to see the hippogriff thing Hope wrote to me about."

"Exactly, you can't compel witches and wizards, and if this criminal can somehow withstand Dementors as I have heard, then... I'm sorry but to borrow a phrase from Hope..." she then gave Rebekah pointed smile "You would be quick work."

Rebekah's mouth dropped open and she scoffed. "Wow. Really?"

Minerva also let out a sigh. "Also... Rebekah, against my better judgment... I actually like you. The last thing I would want is for you, Hope's only remaining family, to run afoul of the dementors. You may be a vampire but you still have your soul so you would be a victim as well. And I'm quite certain over a thousand years on this earth has left you with more than enough soul scarring they can use as weapons."

At that Rebekah sobered and sighed, touched by the woman's admittance. "All right... Understood. But keep me informed on how she is doing, please? Also, this summer you should let me take you shopping. You may be an older woman but that doesn't mean you have to dress like a gaudy curtain."

Minerva huffed, knowing the vampire's flippant nature was a defense mechanism to try and withstand what she just heard. "Good day, Rebekah."

"And one more thing," she reached down and handed the woman a book. "I decided to give this a read once Hope was out of the house, and like my dear niece I have a fondness for loaning my friends books. Yes, we are friends, so here. You need all of the happiness you can get with those things around. Start with this."

Minerva blinked in confusion and examined the book. What the bloody hell was Fifty Shades of Grey?

"Er... thank you."

"How is Hope doing in her classes?" Rebekah asked, figuring she should ask a normal question.

"Well, in my class she is doing fairly. She's managed to successfully turn a teapot into a tortoise."

"Seriously?"

"Oh yes, she's quite the student though sometimes that temper lands her in trouble. However the one teacher who always sings praises to her would be Professor Babbling of Ancient Runes." Minerva noted the vampire's satisfied smirk and figured she had something to do with it but continued. "She's exceeding in Astronomy. Also, she's adept in Charms from what Professor Flitwick tells me. She seems to like Care of Magical Creatures as well."

"That doesn't surprise me. The girl loves all animals."

"Now, Divination..."

Rebekah smirked at the irritated look on the woman's face. "Is that teacher really that bad? Hope calls her a fake California psychic."

Minerva's lips quirked at that. "She seems to delight in predicting a student's death each year for dramatic effect... no one has died yet. If it weren't for the fact that I refuse to speak ill of my colleagues..."

Rebekah scoffed. "Fine, I'll say it. What a bored bitch."

Minerva chose to ignore that remark. "As for Potions and Herbology, I believe she's doing well enough... despite her issues with Professor Snape. However, she is prone to tantrums and mouthing off. So far there have only been a few weekends were she hasn't had a detention and we're now in December."

Rebekah's head snapped up at that. "You mean that bloody Potions teacher who runs Slytherin house? He called her a whore! How the Hell did she get punished?"

"What?"

Rebekah got up from the couch and disappeared into her room, returning with a piece of parchment and handing it to her. Minerva recognized Hope's loopy hand writing instantly. As she read the letter, her mouth formed into a hard line and she handed the letter back to her. And whether it was the alcohol or the fact she wasn't around her students, no one knew but she lost a bit of her professionalism.

"That slimy, little son of a b-" she caught herself and took a deep breath. I always knew he favored his Slytherins but to-" Minerva seemed like she was struggling to remain professional. However she then took a breath and turned back to the vampire. "Well, I can assure you the headmaster will hear of this and I'll have a few words with Professor Snape myself!"

"See that you do."

Rebekah nearly fell over when Minerva picked up the book she had loaned her and disappeared right on the spot. Would Hope learn to do that as well?

After getting over the shock of seeing a woman vanish into thin air, Rebekah slumped back to the couch. So, Hope had healed herself which was a good thing. That meant she would be a hard opponent. However, what Minerva told her about the dementors left her shaken. Hope had a happy childhood with no real issues other than the usual. But her reaction sounded like a magnified version of what happened to the other children.

But she wasn't a vampire.

What the Hell was happening to her?

* * *

"So, what were you dreaming about?" Fred asked. It was well into an hour later. George had left, probably to tell the rest of the team that Harry was fine as well as fill them in on what had happened with Hope. Fred was now snuggled in the small bed with Hope, who looked immensely happier now that he was wrapped around her frame. However at his question, the girl tensed.

"I don't remember... but I think it was about some movie I saw... Movies, y'know, muggle entertainment."

Fred seemed to accept this and contented himself with spooning her. Harry, who had been trying to ignore the fluffy couple next to him, furrowed his brow. He had a clear idea about what that dream was. Why she didn't want to tell Fred was beyond him but considering he was keeping secrets from his two closest friends, he had no room to call her out on it.

However, what he did do was play lookout to keep his mind off of the things that were troubling him. He heard the sound of footsteps coming, whispering to the couple next to him "Incoming alert."

The two third years got a huge laugh when Fred literally barrel rolled out of the bed and onto the floor, scrambling into the nearby chair. By the time someone entered the wing, he was sitting neat as you please as if he wasn't in a compromising position with the girl two seconds earlier. How he did it that fast? No one knew.

"Hope?" a voice whispered and they looked up to see Lavender, Padma and Parvati at the door, each with a bouquet of flowers in hand.

"Hey," she waved and they rushed in. Each of them went to hug her, relief evident on their faces.

"Hope, what happened? You scared us so much!" Padma exclaimed.

"I had no idea they did that to you. And then Harry almost died..." Parvati looked positively shaken. She then turned to Harry. "How are you feeling?"

He gave a one-shouldered shrug and tried for a reassuring smile.

"What happened?" Padma asked again.

Hope fidgeted, not really wanting to get into the details. Just reliving them made her feel cold inside. As if sensing her discomfort, Lavender cleared her throat.

"Let's not talk about that. I'm sure Hope wants to talk about pleasant things..." Lavender insisted and then seemed to finally notice the older redhead next to their friend. "Oh, hi Fred..."

Parvati and Padma exchanged smirks and giggles which didn't go unnoticed by the older boy. He then noticed Hope giving her friends irritated glares before blushing and turning her face into the pillow. Smirking, he gave her side a light tickle. "Hope, what have you been telling them?"

"Huh?" she said, far too innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Really?" his smirk widened.

The girls giggled even more, eager to have something amusing happen during this horrid time.

"There's something to tell?" George piped up from by the door, arms full of food and sweets from Honeydukes. "Is it about the dragon sized hickey on Fred's neck?"

Hope's eyes popped and she turned to look at her boyfriend. Sure enough there was a giant, red sploch on his neck from where she had bit him last night. Fred blushed and scratched his head, looking at everything else in the room with a slightly dopey grin on his face.

"I have no clue where I got that... I think I got it in the match."

Now Hope smirked. "Cheating on me with Diggory?"

Fred only smirked. "I'm sorry. I'm such a slut."

Now even Harry had to laugh along with everyone else. Hope put an anguished hand to her chest and let out a fake sniffle. "It's fine. Though Padma's gonna kick your ass so I don't have to."

"Hope!" the Ravenclaw hissed in irritation, cheeks flushing.

"Oh please, everyone knows but him..." Parvati sighed.

"Y'know, you said when I told Fred I liked him, you'd tell Diggory..." Hope said with a pointed glare and Padma rolled her eyes.

"Ugh... just.. I can't. Besides, I think Cho Chang, a girl in my house, likes him as well."

Harry felt his stomach twist painfully at that and glanced at Hope, not surprised to find her giving him a look before her lips curved into a smile. "Not a problem!"

Padma's face seemed to drain of blood at the look on Hope's face. Harry, George and Fred recognized the look. That was the look she got when she was about to do something she had no business doing.

It seemed at that moment, fate was not on Padma's side. Cedric Diggory had turned up to see Harry. Parvati and Lavender both clamped their mouths shut while Padma looked ready to take off. George and Fred just gave the boy a curt nod, still smarting over the loss, while a slow smile spread over Hope's face.

"Harry," the handsome Hufflepuff began, handing Harry a chocolate frog "I wanted you to know that, I'm really sorry we won that way. I wanted to call for a rematch, but Madam Hooch said-"

"It's fine..." Harry said finally, not wanting to relive the humiliation.

Cedric nodded and wished him a speedy recovery before turning to Hope, placing a chocolate frog near her bed, wishing her a speedy recovery as well. Hope gave him a big smile, gave a smirk to Padma who paled further, and then turned to the boy. "Hey, Cedric... Can I talk to you for a bit?"

The handsome boy stopped and pulled a seat up next to her bed, wondering what she could possibly talk to him about.

"So... You know my friend Padma Patil, right?" Hope asked innocently and Harry couldn't help but notice Padma seemed like she wanted to go running down the halls, screaming.

Cedric nodded and glanced at the Ravenclaw who looked as if she wanted to hide behind Parvati, "Hello."

The girl gave a small nod, blushing and waving. She shot Hope a warning look which was ignored as she continued.

"Mm-hmm! Well, did you know, that when I'm not being hounded by dementors, I'm actually a master puzzle-solver as well as could-be Seer?" he opened his mouth to reply, looking completely baffled but she continued, "So, as for the puzzle and how this involves you and Padma. She's really awesome, you're really awesome or so I figure from what I just heard and you gave me a chocolate frog. She's really pretty, people say you're really pretty. This could work."

Harry pressed his lips together, trying to keep from laughing. Padma looked as if she wanted to sink into the ground. Lavender and Parvati were there as well and had their hands over their mouths in shock. Fred just had a bemused look on his face. Harry wished he could see the look on Cedric's face.

"Um..." Cedric let out a nervous chuckle, his face burning red. "I see..."

"Yeah, and if this goes wrong, my agonizing death will be on your head because she'll totally rip my heart out through my foot since she's standing right there. Hi, Padma!"

Cedric turned around to see the fuming and embarrassed Ravenclaw just as her sister and friend ducked out of sight, dragging Fred and George with them with them. Padma sent Hope a withering glare before turning to the Hufflepuff. "Cedric... please ignore Hope... she's... batty and I-"

"Padma..." he stood and gave her a smile, "Maybe we should talk a walk... Grab Hope and Harry something from the Great Hall?"

"But I already brought-" George started before quelling under the glare from Parvati, Lavender and Hope.

Padma's eyes nearly popped out of her skull and she gave a nervous smile. "Er, sure..." She turned to the two, face a mix between wrath and elation at her friend. "Is there anything you'd like, Hope?"

Hope gave her the biggest shit-eating grin ever. "Nothing for me... but do take a walk..."

Padma flushed and turned to Harry. "Harry?"

Harry sat up, giving Hope an incredulous look before sighing. "Nothing for me, thanks."

Nodding, the blushing couple left the hospital wing. Once they were gone, Parvati and Lavender broke into disbelieving giggles.

"Hope, how do you do that?" Parvati demanded.

"Ehh, just saw an opportunity for the revenge I had been wanting since Halloween. And it worked. Wait until you get a crush, Parvati. You're next."

* * *

Once others had left due to Madam Pomfrey kicking him out, it was just Hope and Harry. The girl was curled up in her bed, snoring softly. Harry was wide awake, unable to sleep whatsoever. Now without the silliness of his friends to keep his mind off of things, his mind went back to the match.

Everyone thought his sullen mood was due to the loss of the match as well as his broomstick. But, that was only half of the case. He had not told anyone about the Grim, not wanting to cause a panic or be ridiculed. However, both times it appeared, he nearly died. First nearly being flattened by the Knight Bus and next falling from his broomstick. But, also he couldn't help but wonder, if that last time had been an accident because while he nearly died, Hope had tried to kill herself and the Grim was right behind her in the stands. Did it come for both of them?

And then there were the dementors, forcing him over and over to listen to the screams of his dying parents. He had finally figured out who the voice belonged to now as well as that hideous laugh. Voldemort murdering his mother as she pleaded for him to spare Harry.

He couldn't help but wonder, as he glanced at Hope's tossing figure, if there were any death echoes she had heard right before ripping into her own arm with her wand?

* * *

When Monday, meaning classes, finally rolled around, it was a relief for Harry.

It seemed that for whatever reason, Snape was no longer picking on Hope. Probably due to the fact that she nearly died as a result from the dementors. However, there were times during dinner he noticed McGonagall giving Snape the most withering glare he had ever seen from the woman. He elbowed Ron who looked immensely satisfied at the display. And that was when she wasn't nose-deep in what looked like a book. And was it his imagination or was she red-faced while reading?

"I got a letter from my aunt." Hope had explained. "McGonagall told her what happened and she told her about what Snape said. I'm guessing she raked him over some coals." Hope looked very pleased with herself. "Though honestly, I would've loved it if she had came here..."

"So would I..." Dean said with a dreamy smile and Hope just rolled her eyes.

However, it seemed they had to take the bad with the good. Malfoy was giddy with joy at Gryffindor's defeat and had finally taken off his cast, amusing himself by imitating dementors all through meal times. Harry and Hope just rolled their eyes through lunch but Fred and Ron both came close to popping from their seats and pummeling the pale boy.

"Dude, he's so not even worth it..." Hope said comfortingly as she sat snuggled against Fred after pulling him back to sit.

"All I want to do is pound his face in," Fred grumbled, stroking her hair and she scrunched her face in mock revulsion.

"But then you'd have to touch him... Eww." Ron, Fred and Harry laughed and even Hermione smirked a bit.

Once lunch was over and they had to make their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, Hermione hung back a bit as she walked with Harry and Ron. Fred had veered off to go to one of his classes, giving Hope a goodbye kiss.

"Hope..."

Hope looked up to see a red-faced Hermione walking along side of her. "I'm sorry I insulted your aunt..."

Hope's brows rose but she gave the girl a nod. At least she was trying to be civil. "I'm sorry I told you to eat my-

"All's forgiven..." Hermione grunted out, if possible she was even redder than before.

Once they made it to Defense of Against the Dark Arts, everyone was relieved to see Professor Lupin and wasted no time letting him know of the hell they went through while he was away.

"You will not _believe_ the b.s he made us do!" Hope growled the minute she stormed into the classroom and that set off the rest of them.

"TWO ROLLS OF PARCHMENT!"

"Why does he get to give us homework?"

"TWO ROLLS OF PARCHMENT!"

"He's not even our actual teacher!"

"TWO ROLLS OF PARCHMENT!"

"Calm down, Lupin said gently with an amused smile. "You don't have to do the essay..."

"Oh... but I already did it..." Hermione pouted.

The lesson was enjoyable, and Harry noted that Hope had seemed to be cleared of her despair as she eyed the hinkypunk in the glass box with wide eyes.

"It's so cute!" she squealed and Lupin gave her a smile.

"You say that now, but it lures travelers into bogs. You see the lantern dangling from its hand? Hops ahead, people follow the light and then..."

The hinkypunk made a weird squelching noise against the glass and Hope sprang back, teetering and grabbed onto the nearest thing for support to keep from falling, which happened to be Harry. The boy wrapped an arm around her to steady her before pulling apart. Neither of them commented on the respective jolts they had felt during their brief contact.

Once the lesson was over and the bell rang, the students began to file out out of the room. Hope skipped out of the room, more than likely headed to where ever Fred was. Harry was about to leave but Professor Lupin stopped him.

"Harry, may I have a word?"

Harry went back into the classroom, waiting until the class had fully exited. Once they were gone, the teacher turned to him as he covered the hinkypunk's case with a cloth. "I heard about the match as well as your broomstick. Is there anyway of getting it repaired?"

"No... the Whomping Willow hit it."

Lupin let out a sigh and explained about how that aggressive tree was planted when he was a student at Hogwarts. Harry listened, but his mind was on something else.

"Professor... why do the dementors affect me so?" Another thought hit him and he voiced it before he was able to stop himself. "Am I weak?"

"It has nothing to do with weakness! Anything but!" Lupin said sharply. "The dementors affect you worse than others because there are _real_ horrors in your life."

He thought about what was said about true horrors in someone's life and spoke again without realizing. "But... did you hear about...?"

Lupin gave a grave nod, "Hope Mitchell? Yes, I did. I'm guessing she has some horrors in her life as well, if her boggart were any indication."

Harry remembered the woman in the long green dress, gliding out of the wardrobe. The hatred in her eyes as she called Hope an abomination and how he found her, red-eyed from crying later that night in the common room. He then remembered the things she muttered in her sleep in the hospital wing right before setting the curtains on fire.

"She... she was having nightmares in the hospital wing, this weekend. She was muttering something about an abomination... and a sacrifice. She said it was from a muggle movie she watched..."

"But you don't believe her?" Lupin asked and Harry said nothing. Lupin gave a sigh. "Well, probably she doesn't want anyone to know what troubles her. If you haven't noticed, she seems to be a very strong-willed girl who doesn't like to appear weak. My guess is she'll tell people once she is ready."

Harry mulled over that for a moment before speaking again. He finally voiced what had been plaguing him since the match. "When they're near, the dementors, ... I hear Voldermort murdering my mum..."

Lupin said nothing but made a motion as if he wanted to grab Harry's shoulder but though better of it. Harry was speaking, mostly to himself. "Why did they come to the match?" Lupin gave him an explanation about the dementors being hungry and what it was they fed off of. Human happiness and how the tortured the prisoners of Azkaban. And how their food was drying up since Dumbledore wasn't allowing them on the grounds.

"Black must have found away to escape them," Lupin explained after Harry mentioned the criminal. "Dementors are supposed to drain a wizard of his powers if he is left with them long enough..."

Harry nodded and was quiet for a moment. "You made that dementor on the train leave..."

"Well, there are defenses one can use against a dementor... However, that was only one. The more there are-"

But Harry didn't care. "Can you teach me?" he asked and Lupin sighed.

"I'm not an expert, Harry-"

"But, if the dementors come to another Quidditch match, I need to be able to fight them!"

Lupin sighed, his shoulders drooping as he finally gave in to Harry's demands. "Very well... I will try to help but it will have to wait until after the holidays."

* * *

As the weeks went on, it seemed that the two would receive welcome distractions, one after the other. Hufflepuff was slaughtered by Ravenclaw which meant that Gryffindor was still in the running for the Cup. This lifted Harry's spirits considerably. Also, it seemed they would all receive a rare treat of Snape being harassed for once. Peeves the poltergeist zoomed into the Potions dungeons, with a book in hand, cackling but no one paid him any mind. However it all changed when he began reading passages from the book.

"And he slowly eases into me, slowly, slowly, until he's buried in me. Stretching, filling-" Peeves read loudly as he floated into the dungeon, face manic with glee. Everyone froze and Snape's chalk fell out of his hand. He whirled around, face dark with fury and shock.

"Peeves!"

Harry and Ron looked up in shock and Parvati and Lavender giggled behind their cauldrons while Seamus and Dean cackled. Hermione was red in the face while Hope was nearly doubled over. Poor Neville looked like a turnip, he was so red. The Slytherins were all beside themselves as the ghost continued.

"- relentless. I groan loudly. It feels deeper this time, delect-" Peeves floated higher when Snape tried to grab the book and then through the wall when he tried to summon it away from him, cackling. Further down the halls you could make out the sound of cackling Peeves, hysterical students and scandalized teachers.

"PEEVES!" The shriek from McGonagall echoed down the hall.

Snape slammed the door shut, face near purple and fuming. He swept a glare at the students who were all snickering. "Get back to work!" he snarled and finished writing the ingredients of the potion they were concocting on the blackboard.

Harry glanced at the girls, snickering at Hermione's mortified face while Hope just bit her lip and leaned toward Harry and whispered. "Still the most action he'll ever get..."

"Now," Snape began, "Now, gather your ingredients and turn to page 134 of your books and begin by-"

"STROKING ALONG THE FRONT WALL OF MY VAGINA!" Peeves had poked his head through the door then right back out as Snape aimed a jinx at the poltergeist.

Snape let out a long breath through his nose and swept a withering glare over the students who were all turning blue from trying not to laugh.

By dinner time, Peeves had apparently made rounds through the entire school and it was all anyone could talk about. Quotes from the book were being exchanged back and forth at the tables. "I know that book!" Seamus said after a while. "I think it's called Fifty Shades of Grey."

Hermione's head jolted up at that. "I've heard of it... it's very perverse!"

"Oh really, I didn't know that, judging from the stuff Peeves was reading..." Ron said through his potatoes.

"Can you all please find something else to talk about?" A red-faced angry Percy gnashed at a piece of bread.

"What's his damage?" Hope asked as she helped herself to some pudding. Across from her, Wood snickered, in better spirits since the loss of Hufflepuff to Ravenclaw that past weekend.

"Peeves swooped into our Charms class with the book and was reading a scene and then told Percy to pay attention as this was one subject he was certain to bugger up. It didn't help that Penelope Clearwater was in the room too."

Hope's mouth fell open and Fred and George broke into delighted cackles. She glanced at the Ravenclaw table. Sure enough the Head Girl was pink in the face while her friends teased her about what the poltergeist said. Hope's eyes traveled to Padma who was currently sitting with Cedric and Cho Chang was looking quite put out. Turning back to her food, Hope gave Harry a nudge under the table. "Go over there!"

Harry pointedly ignored her, earning an exasperated sigh from Hermione. "Harry, just go over there..."

"Either you make or move, or I will..." Hope warned and Harry smirked.

"Does Fred know you plan on cheating on him with Cho?"

At that Fred broke into a grin. "I wouldn't mind... Christmas is coming up..."

"Shut up, Fred!" She then turned back to Harry. "I mean it, I will go over there. You think I won't?"

"Do it!" Fred cheered.

"Hope... don't," Ron begged.

Hope sighed and gave in. "Fine..." she then caught the eyes of Padma and tried to do the Wonder Twin thing she had seen Parvati do with the girl. She flicked her eyes to Cho then Harry before going back to her food. Padma seemed to catch on and was more than happy to extract herself from Cedric to sit next to the girl. Hope smirked when she noticed Padma gesture to Harry while talking with the girl. Cho looked up in surprise then gave Harry an appraising look. Grinning, Hope nudged Harry under the table and he looked up, blushing when he saw Cho looking at him.

"Hope, what did you do?"

"Huh?" she asked in false innocence.

He frantically looked back at the Ravenclaw table and flushed darker when he found Cho smiling at him. He smiled back feebly in return. Hope just sat back with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Cupid, thy name is Hope."

* * *

With the Christmas holidays only a few days away, Hope was beginning to feel the spirit. She was almost upset she wouldn't be staying at the school, especially when Flitwick hung up lights that were real fairies. And considering she was actually allowed to go to this Hogsmeade trip she was in a considerably good mood. Plus, she had heard that now Padma and Cedric were dating and it seemed as if Cho was giving Harry second glances now. Life was good.

But it seemed that wasn't to last. Pansy, still smarting from the beating Hope had given her, just didn't know when to quit. She had taken to harassing the girl in Potions as well as Care of Magical Creatures. While Draco would only imitate dementors, Pansy took it a step further and pantomimed slashing her wrists and pretending to bleed out and faint.

"I swear, I'm going to forget my Gryffindor chivalry and hit that cow..." Ron growled out one day while Parvati held Hope back from pummeling the girl.

"Did that cow not learn after the last beating?" Lavender huffed.

Hope, intent on ripping her face off, remembered the fight and how she nearly killed her. Forcing herself to calm down, she shrugged out of Parvati's grip. "I'm cool, guys... I got it."

However the Slytherin made sure to kick it up a notch when in the halls. They were on there way to their separate classes when Pansy glided past Hope.

"I guess its a good thing you didn't die, Mitchell. How else would Fred be able to have nice things if you're not around to buy them?"

Blood roared in her ears and Hope's body was on autopilot. Her hand knotted itself in Pansy's hair and she slung the girl around by it, throwing her into a suit of armor. The Slytherin shot up and Pansy's face darkened in fury and she aimed her wand again, this time at the armor helmet. "Motis!" The helmet flew at Hope and knocked her across the face, sending her flying.

"Shit! McGonagall!"

Hope heard the warning but didn't care, launching to attack but was stopped. Hermione and Ron held her back while Pansy scuttled off with her friends.

"I'm cool," Hope said finally and swiped at her forehead, sighing when it came away bloody. Hermione was giving her a startled look but said nothing. Hope rolled her eyes. "I said I'm cool!" And then she stormed back to the Tower, all cheery feelings gone.

* * *

When the Saturday Hogsmeade trip rolled around, Hope was honestly more than happy to hang out in her dorm. Everyone else had left but she had opted to skip this one in favor for a warmer one. Growing up in Chicago did nothing for her fondness of the cold. And December was not kind at the moment. She glanced out the window, saw the snow and the harsh wind and said "NOPE!" Could she tolerate it? Yes. Would she if she didn't have to? No.

Besides, as she was now learning, this special time of month was a time of not wanting to do anything. So, she sat in her baggy sweats and a loose long-sleeved shirt and her hair in a messy ponytail, currently reading The Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts. She honestly would love to be home, watching bad soap operas with her aunt while chowing down on ham and dressing. But, that would be for tomorrow.

"Hope?"

The girl looked up to see Ginny in the doorway. "Hmm?"

"Fred wanted me to ask you if you were sure you didn't want to go."

Hope sighed, feeling a slight twinge of annoyance. She was so agitated during the first two days. "I'm sure, Ginny... These cramps are kicking my ass and all I wanna do is stay in bed and be left alone."

Ginny gave a nod and left to deliver the message, leaving Hope alone. After a moment, she sighed and toed on her slippers. The least she could do is go say goodbye. However, when she went down stairs to see off everyone, she didn't see the two but unfortunately did see Pansy. Pansy had no issue pointing out Hope's haggard appearance.

"Bloody Hell, Mitchell, you look almost as bad as condemned Hippogriff"

Hope saw Harry, Ron and Hermione bristle at that. Draco gave Hope an appraising look and smirked. "Still looks more spruced up than a Weasley..." he cracked and Hermione had to hold Ron back.

Hope just narrowed her eyes at the boy, still irritated with him for his stunt with the hippogriff. "Y'know, I'd love nothing more than to slap you with my tampon... but considering how much you wanna get close to my lady parts, you'd probably like it."

Draco's face went bright red, from wrath or humiliation, she didn't know. There was a violent cough that sounded like a laugh behind her and Hope glanced to see the girls from her dorm all beside themselves. Padma also was snickering while Cedric stood next to her, red-faced and fighting between mirth and revulsion. Harry also stood with Ron and Hermione, red-faced and not even trying to hold in his laughs.

Pansy fumed at the girl but looped her arm with Draco's, "Ignore her... though one would think she'd try to hold onto as much blood as she could after the match..."

Hope's vision went red and she sprung but was held back. She turned, ready to snap at whoever was holding her, and blinked in surprise when blue met green. "Harry... let me go."

"Don't give her the satisfaction... at least not now."

Growling but realizing he was right, she deflated. Pansy looked triumphant as they group filed out, raising Hope's ire even more.

"She just never learns..." Hope growled as Harry finally let her go.

The two made their way back to the tower however Hope veered off to go use the bathroom as well as get more chocolate. However, when she went back to the common room she didn't see him there. Shrugging it off, she went back to her room to finish her book and tend to her cramps. That's when she felt eyes on her.

Closing her book, she rolled her eyes as Crookshanks stared at her with that uncanny look on its squashed face. "The hell you want?"

The cat only continued to stare at her, as if it were sizing her up or it knew something about her. Rolling her eyes, she went back to ignoring the cat. Though she couldn't help the uneasy feeling she got when she was around it.

* * *

For Harry, he had said goodbye to Ron and Hermione and had went to head back to Gryffindor Tower with Hope. But, the girl had veered off to use a bathroom. He had considered waiting for her but as the castle was getting quite cold and drafty, he wanted the warmth of the common room sooner rather than later.

"Psst, Harry!"

Harry paused halfway along the third floor corridor, to see Fred and George peering out at him from behind a statue of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked. "How come you're not going to Hogsmeade?"

"We've come to give you a bit of festive cheer before we go," Fred said and the twins led him to an empty classroom to the left of the witch statue.

"Early Christmas present for you, Harry," he said as he pulled a worn piece of parchment from his cloak. It had nothing on it. Suspecting one of their pranks, Harry just arched a brow.

"And this is...?"

"This, Harry, is the secret of our success," said George, patting the parchment fondly.

"It's a loss, giving it to you," said Fred "But, we decided last night that your need is greater than ours."

"We know it all by heart, anyway," said George "We bequeath it to you. We don't really need it anymore."

"And what do I need with a bit of old parchment?" Harry asked.

"A bit of old parchment?" George moaned as if Harry had grievously insulted him. "Fred, explain..."

"Well, when we were in our first year, Harry, young innocent and carefree..."

Harry scoffed at that and Fred smirked.

"Well, more innocent than we are now-"

"Cleary," Harry said sardonically, eyeing the purple and red love bites on Fred's throat.

Fred gave a one-shouldered shrug and continued, "we got into a bit of trouble with Filch."

"We let off a dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason-"

"So, he hauled us off to his office and threatened us with the usual-"

"-detention-"

"disembowelment-"

"-and we couldn't help but notice a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked _Confiscated and Highly Dangerous."_

"And let me guess..." Harry said with a grin.

"So, then, George caused a diversion by dropping another dungbomb, I whipped the drawer open and grabbed-_this." _Fred then took out his wand and touched the parchment lightly, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

And at once, thin ink lines began to spread over the parchment like webs from the point Fred's wand had touched. They joined each other, crossed, fanned to each corner; then words blossomed across the top in curly, fancy font that read:

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

are proud to present

The Marauder's Map

It was a map showing every detail of the castle and grounds. But, what was truly amazing were the small ink dots moving around it, each labeled with a name in small writing.

Astounded, Harry bent over it for a closer look. A labeled dot showed Dumbledore was pacing in his study. Mrs. Norris was prowling the fourth floor. Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater were in an abandoned classroom on the first floor, very close together...

But, Harry noticed something else. The map showed a set of passages that he had never entered. And many of them led straight into Hogsmeade.

Fred and George then explained about the passages. There were seven in all, though Filch knew about four. One behind the mirror on the fourth floor was caved in. There was another that was right where the Whomping Willow was planted. Though, there was was one that led into Honeydukes and its entrance was the hump of the One-Eyed Witch.

"Just remember to wipe it clean after you've used it-"

"Or anyone can read it."

"Just tap it with your wand and say 'Mischief Managed!' And it'll go blank."

"So, young Harry, you behave yourself," Fred said in an uncanny imitation of Percy.

"See you in Hogsmeade," said George and the two then left the room.

Harry stood there, eyes wide as he watched the dot that was Mrs. Norris. If Filch didn't know... he wouldn't have to pass the dementors at all.

Not even thinking about, Harry rushed to the One-Eyed witch statue. No one was around. He examined the map and saw, to his astonishment, that a new ink figure had appeared upon it, labeled _Harry Potter_. This figure was standing near the witch with a small wand. Harry took out his real wand and tapped the real witch.

Nothing.

He looked down at the map again and a speech bubble appeared next to his figure. "Dissendium."

"Dissendium!" Harry said and tapped the witch again.

The statue's hump opened wide enough to let in a person. Harry glanced up and down the corridor again and tucked the map away, hoisted himself into the hole headfirst and pushed himself forward.

T.T.T.T.

After walking for ages down the twisting, earthy passage, and a ten minute climb upwards, he finally emerged in the cellar of Honeydukes. He entered the store which was crowded with students that no one noticed him. He found Ron and Hermione near a spot in the far corner of the shop that was labeled "Unusual Tastes." They were examining a tray of blood-flavored lollipops. Harry sneaked up behind them.

"Ron, no. Harry won't want those, they're for vampires, I think."

"How about theses? Ron asked, holding a jar of Cockroach Clusters under her nose.

"Definitely not," said Harry.

Ron nearly dropped the jar and Hermione squealed.

"Harry! How'd... What are you doing here?"

Harry explained the map to them. Ron was upset Fred and George, his own brothers, hadn't given it him. Hermione was suggesting that Harry should hand the map in to McGonagall right away.

"You shouldn't study so much, Hermione. It's melting your brain," Harry said with a scoff. Like Hell he was giving this up! "If I hand it in, I'll have to say where I got it and Filch would know Fred and George had nicked it!"

"But what about Sirius Black? He could be using one of the passages on that map to get into the castle! The teachers have got to know!"

"He couldn't be," Harry said. "There are seven of them. Filch knows about four of them. The other three- one's caved in, the other is right over the Whomping Willow and the one I used... it's really hard to see the entrance, so unless he had already known about it..."

Harry then felt a lurch in his stomach. What if Black did know about the passage? However, Ron cleared his throat and printed that was pasted on the inside of the sweetshop door.

BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

_Customers are reminded that until further notice, dementors will be patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade every night after sundown. This measure has been put in place for the safety of Hogsmeade residents and will be lifted upon the recapture of Sirius Black. It is therefore advisable that you complete your shopping well before nightfall. _

_Merry Christmas!_

"See?" Ron said. "There's no way Black could break into Honeydukes with dementors swarming all over the village. Besides, the owners would hear a break in. They live over the shop."

"Yes, but... but... Harry shouldn't be coming into the village. He hasn't got a signed form! If anyone finds out, he'll e in so much trouble! And it's not nightfall yet. What if Sirius Black turns up today? Now?"

"Like he could spot Harry in all of this," Ron said as he gestured to the heavily falling snow. "Besides, its Christmas. Don't be such a sourpuss!"

"But... but..."

"Going to tell on me, Hermione?" Harry smirked.

"Oh... of course not... But, honestly, Harry..."

Ron cut her off by steering Harry to the various candies and treats, telling him about his childhood experiences with them. After they paid for their sweets, the two then began showing Harry the village which was beautifully decorated for the holidays and covered in snow. Harry shivered, he hadn't brought his cloak. So when Ron suggested going to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer, he readily accepted.

The pub was warm, smokey and crowded. A pretty, curvy woman was serving a bunch of rowdy warlocks at the bar.

"That's Madam Rosmerta," Ron said and went red in the cheeks. "I'll get the drinks." He then rushed to the bar while Harry and Hermione found a table between a window and handsome Christmas tree, which stood next to the fireplace. Ron came back moments later with three tankards of hot butterbeer.

Harry took a swig and had to keep from moaning. It was the most delicious thing he had ever drank and it heated up every bit of him from the inside.

The door then opened, the cold air ruffling his hair. Harry glanced over his shoulder and choked.

Professors McGonagall and Flitwick had just walked in with Hagrid and-oh god- the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge!

Ron and Hermione shoved Harry under the table, causing his butterbeer to spill. But, that was the least of his problems as the teachers all took a table right by theirs. Luckily, Hermione had used a charm to levitate the tree in front of them, blocking them all from view. Harry stared through the pine needles as the teachers sat down. Moments later, a pair of glittery heels approached, setting their orders on the table.

"Rosmerta, do join us," Fudge's voice said.

"Well, thank you very much, Minister."

She disappeared and reappeared a moment later. Harry was ready to bolt for the door. It was the holidays. Of course the teachers were going to want to enjoy this last weekend as well. How long where they going to sit there? He needed time to sneak into Honeydukes and back to school. Hermione's leg gave a nervous twitch next to him.

The group then began to have a conversation about Black break-in to the school. Harry, unable to do much else, was forced to listen...

* * *

Hours later and after a brief nap, Hope awoke to her cramps gone and the noise of everyone returning. Parvati and Lavender entered the dorm, both of them bringing back sweets from Honeydukes.

"For a minute, I thought I saw Harry," Parvati said as she got ready to change for dinner.

"So did I, but he's unable to go, right?" Lavender asked. "His family didn't sign his slip."

When they headed down for dinner (After Lavender threatened to transfigure Hope into some better clothes if she didn't change and brush her hair) Hope noticed that Harry was rather quiet and surly. That was weird considering he had been pretty happy lately due to Cho finally noticing him. She also noticed Ron and Hermione looking a bit nervous as they watched him but they didn't speak on anything. However, when Fred sat next to her and slid his arm around her waist, she put it out of her mind.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked, slipping his hand into her hair and she automatically melted at the touch.

"Yeah... sorry I didn't tag along. Me and cold don't mix."

When they headed back to the common room, Fred and George decided it would be a fun idea to set off a bunch of dungbombs which had her and the rest of the girls screaming and running for the their dorm. However, she also noticed that Harry didn't join the festivities and had slipped quietly to his room.

* * *

It was much later that night when Hope woke with a case of bad cramps and she was all out of chocolate. Tossing and turning, the girl tried to find a comfortable position but was unable. Annoyed, she grabbed her books, threw off the covers and headed down to the empty common room, figuring reading would be the best distraction for her now.

In the light of the dying fire, she saw the form of Harry sitting in one of the chairs. He was in his pajamas and had one of his knees drawn up and his elbow propped on it. He was tensed but relaxed when he saw it was her.

"Hey," she said happily, glad that she wasn't the only one awake. "Can't sleep?"

The light of the fire shown on his face and she almost flinched at the expression. It was hard, as if he were carved out of stone, but his eyes burned with a rage that rivaled her own. Never one for social boundaries, she plopped on the floor in front of him, liking the feel of the fire at her back. His eyes flicked to her but then away, ignoring her in favor of his own wrath.

"Okay... you're pissed. Did you get caught sneaking into Hogsmeade?" she asked, brow arching. When he gave her a slight questioning look she waved her hand dismissively. "It was easy to figure out since I stayed here. And I figured Fred and George did something since they wanted you to cheer up after the match."

He seemed to accept her answer but wouldn't acknowledge her further. Feeling her own annoyance rise at being dismissed in such away, she moved forward and rose on her knees, folding her arms on her chest and locking eyes with him. After a while he narrowed his own at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Staring you down until you talk to me."

"Maybe I don't want to talk to you."

"Maybe I don't want to be this adorable and curvy, but we all have crosses to bear."

Normally that would earn her either a smirk or eye roll, but she got nothing. Not liking this despondent Harry, she huffed and leaned back on her arms. "Are you still mad and wigging out about the match? Just annihilate Ravenclaw and it'll be golden. You've done it a jillion times."

"It's not the match."

"Well then what is it?"

"Just... leave me alone, Hope. I don't want to talk about it."

Hearing the finality in his words, Hope shrugged and pulled out one of her books to read. However, she had barely gotten into the cheesy sex scene when his voice caught her attention.

"Hope..."

"What?"

She looked back at him and saw him struggling with something, like he was dying to say something but was afraid of saying it. She remembered feeling the exact same way when she nearly killed Pansy. "Just say it, Harry... it's like a band-aid. Rip it off."

Harry sighed and swallowed, "Er... I know you're tired of me asking you this but... can you please get your cards?"

Her brows rose at the defeated tone in his voice but she nodded and disappeared, reappearing with the deck as well as stones. She sat on the floor in front of him and handed him the cards.

"Feels weird doing this in the common room for once, huh?" she asked, hoping to dispel some of the tension.

It didn't work.

Harry shuffled, focusing on what he learned of Sirius Black, his parents as well as the match and the dementors. He thought of the Grim and of her nearly dying and of everything in between that he couldn't put a name to. After a moment, he handed the cards back to her and she laid them out carefully.

"Okay... your signifier is the Tower. You are in a right state, devastation, anger, shock..." she flipped the next. "Covered by the Ace of Swords in reverse and crossed by the Five of Wands in reverse. Lies and half-truths crossed by being pissed but not being able to do anything about it."

"Basically..." he wished she would get through the descriptions. He wanted her to connect them.

"Next, the root of the matter is Seven of Swords, betrayal. The recent past is the Nine of Cups. The crowing is the Justice card in reverse. Near future is Five of Swords, an empty victory. Your mindset is The Devil. Surrounding you is the Moon in reverse. Your hopes and fears are the Page of Swords and your outcome is Judgment in Reverse."

She sat perfectly still, then her eyes began darting rapidly over the cards. Harry braced himself for whatever it was she was about to say.

"Okay... Seven of Swords, the Devil and Five of Swords... Betrayal, Obsession and Five of Swords... someone's obsession to get back at someone will end badly. Nine of cups next to Justice in reverse... a wish won't be granted because of unfairness. Seven of Swords next to the Devil, a cruel person and a sneak... Justice in reverse, judgment in reverse and Five of Swords, a futile battle and an unfair ruling... Page of Swords, Judgment in Reverse and Five of Wands in reverse... someone's going to get caught up in a screwed up mess but won't be able to really do anything about it... the Devil's not too far so this person will be trapped... but I'm seeing a trap of their own fear..."

Harry sat back as he took in her words. So far, it sounded like everything he had found out. A cruel person and a sneak, Black and Voldermort. The unfairness, the betrayal of his parents... But what was this about a wish not being fulfilled?

His eyes flicked to the Page of Swords. For some reason he suspected it was Malfoy but had a feeling it could have been Hope. She had said in her last reading that an asshole would reveal something to him and Malfoy had been taunting him about how he would want revenge if it had been his parents. However, as far as Hope was concerned... She also said that the Page of Swords was a person who tended to clash with others...

"Hope... are you able to do readings for yourself?"

Hope shrugged. "I've done a few on school stuff. Why?" When she saw a bit of fear cross his features she sat up. "What's going on?"

Taking a breath, he ran a hand through his hair. "Hope... I don't want to scare you but I think you should know... the day the dementors... the day we both nearly died... I saw a Grim."

Hope's cheeks paled but she remained quiet. "Where?"

Now he swallowed. "In the stands. Behind you."

The girl let out a shuddering gasp but quickly righted herself. "Okay then..." she took the cards and began shuffling. "Let's just see what the hell is up with this because I refuse to fucking be puppy chow like an episode of Supernatural."

"What?" he asked in confusion and she rolled her eyes.

"OMG, I need to get you hip to American shows." After a moment she laid out the cards in the familiar pattern. "Okay... I have the Page of Swords as my signifier." She paused for a moment then thought of something. "Hey, you had the same card for Hopes and Fears..." she gave him a small smile. "You're worried about me?"

Harry blushed but gave a small shrug. "Well, you are my friend..."

Hope grinned and flipped over the next card. "Covering me is the Ace of Wands and crossing me is the Lovers..." Hope blushed and Harry's brow furrowed.

"Isn't that the combination where you said Cho and I would be-"

"Moving on!"

Harry's eyes popped when it dawned on him why he had seen George and not Fred while in the common room that other night. He hadn't seen Hope either. He didn't comment on it. It wasn't his business.

"Okay... my foundation is... the Queen of Wands, probably Auntie Bex. Queen of Wands is a beautiful, passionate woman. My recent past is... the Nine of Swords... probably the attack... Crowning me is the Two of Cups..." she flushed again but continued. Harry had a feeling what that card was, if the fluffy nature of it was any indication. "My near future is the Tower. My mindset is... the Eight of Swords... my environment is the Five of Wands... those bitches..." he bit back a snicker as she continued. "My hopes and fears are the Ten of Swords and my outcome is Death."

Harry's stomach gave an unpleasant lurch and a chill washed over him. He looked at Hope who had gone sheet white and was breathing erratically to the point he feared she would faint. "Hope..."

She said nothing. He sprung out of the chair and gave her shoulders a gentle shake. "Hope. Snap out of it."

"Oh my god..." she whimpered, talking mostly to herself. "I'm gonna die... something's gonna kill me. I only just getting serious with Fred and now I'm gonna die. What kind of shit is that?"

Harry decided he would pretend he didn't hear that last bit but instead gave her a rougher shake. "Hope! Snap out of it." He reached for her book of tarot and flipped through the pages, landing on the Death card. It was a skull over a barren wasteland that had a single white rose sprouting from it. A dark rider was in the background and there were planetary symbols he had learned in Astronomy: Pluto and Scorpio, if he wasn't mistaken. He read through the description and shook her shoulder again, hoping to snap her out of her despair.

"Hope. Calm down... you're not going to die. It says the Death card rarely means actual death but more of a complete change, a death of the old self to make way for something new... whatever that means... but it doesn't mean you'll die."

Hope slowly came out of her haze as she took in his words. Her blue eyes flitted to the cards and she swallowed, forcing herself to calm down. She took a deep breath through her nose and he saw her eyes go out of focus as she flitted back and forth through different parts of the spread.

"Death makes a perfect triangle with the Tower and Two of Cups. A calamity will bring two people closer together or change their relationship. Death also makes a perfect triangle with the Tower and the Eight of Swords... something broken and it will cause an issue. Ten of Swords right next to Death and with the Tower... a really dark time... and it'll be unexpected and everything will change afterward..."

Harry, hating to see the normally vibrant girl this broken, shoved the cards into her hands again. "Try a different one."

Hope gave him an incredulous look but steeled her shoulders and shuffled. After a moment she laid out five cards in a straight horizontal line.

"King of Pentacles, Five of Wands, The Moon, The Wheel, and the Three of Swords."

"Do any of those look like death?" he asked, hoping she would say no.

Hope's brow furrowed as she examined the cards. "No... they look... like a crap ton of drama."

Harry let out the small breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Well, there you go. What does it look like?"

Hope concentrated and then her eyes glazed over. "A strong, loyal man with a regal bearing and money and unassuming nature. An argument and disagreement. An illusion as well as things coming partially into light. The start and end of something. And... heartache."

He noticed the flinch in her voice at the word 'heartache' and had an eerie feeling she was worried about her relationship with Fred. He decided he would try to cheer her up a bit. "But, no death for you? Right?"

"No... I'm not seeing it... but I-"

"Well... it might just be Pansy and Draco breaking up and blaming you for it..." Harry said, thinking back to how Draco kept looking at the girl.

Hope's face scrunched up and then she giggled. "Man, that would mess her up..."

The two fell quiet for a bit before she gave him a nudge with her foot. "So... why's your spread so emo...?"

Harry sighed and eyed the girl. Could he trust her with this? He might as well, considering he asked her to go into trances at least twice a week for him. "Sirius Black... he's after me... and he was the one who betrayed my parents to Voldemort. He's the reason they're dead."

Hope's brows rose in shock and she folded her legs in. "And he almost got in here! I'm going home tomorrow and my aunt knows people... Say the word and I can have him messed up six ways from Sunday..."

Harry's lips quirked in a half smile. "No, thank you... I want to do it myself..."

Unlike Hermione and Ron, Hope gave a nod of approval which shocked him. "I know that feeling all too well..." Now she stretched out on her stomach. "And to think I thought he was after me."

"Why would you think he was after you?"

The girl tensed and then sighed. "I saw a Grim in the hallway Halloween night, right when he tried to break into the common room. And that tarot reading had me on edge... and other stuff..."

His eyes narrowed as he wondered what else was going on with her, then he remembered the nightmares she had in the hospital wing. "Hope... when you were in the wing with me and you were sleeping... right before you set the curtains on fire... you muttered something about an abomination, someone named Esther and a sacrifice... It wasn't a movie, was it?"

The girl paled and bolted upright. "I'm going to bed."

"Hope," he got up as well, grabbing her hand to keep her there. She paused, keeping her back to him but didn't try to get away. "What happened?"

Hope sighed and her shoulders slumped. Turning back around to face him, she eased her hand from his grip. "Long story short... Grandma wasn't just a racist bitch, she also wanted to sacrifice me on an altar in some freaky 'ritual to appease the ancestors' or some such shit. Right after I was born she had three crazy bitches try to gut me on an altar in the middle of a cemetery."

A cold wash of revulsion coated Harry's skin and his eyes widened, mouth unable to form words. Her own grandmother not only hated her but tried to sacrifice her? "But.. why?"

"Um... she was crazy. Really heavy into dark magic," she then gathered her cards, not looking at him. He stooped down to help her.

"I'm sorry."

"Eh. It's all good." She still wouldn't meet his eyes.

The two were quiet when they collected her cards.

"Did you tell your friends about the Grim?" Hope asked and Harry shook his head.

"No, Ron would panic and Hermione would scoff..." She gave an understanding nod at that and turned to leave but stopped when he called her again. "Hope? When... when they're near... do you hear anything?"

Hope paused. "Sort of... like overlapping voices but it's mostly a huge urge to just kill myself... like I was supposed to die and everything would be better if I was... nothing's worth it, so why do I try?" She sent a questioning glance over her shoulder though he could see the haunted look in her eyes. "You?"

"Voldemort killing my mum..."

Hope's eyes widened in horror and for a moment she seemed like she was going to hug him but thought better of it.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone..." Hope said and he gave a smile of thanks.

"Same here."

Now she grinned. "Want me to bicycle kick Malfoy next time he imitates a dementor?"

Harry grinned at that image but shook his head. "But you'd have to touch him..."

"Oh yeah... ew..." She turned to leave.

"Oh, you forgot your runes," Harry handed her the velvet bag full of stones. She took them and both decided to ignore the way it felt when their hands briefly touched.

"Huh... cramps are gone..." Hope muttered, shuffling toward the stairs.

"Right..." he also headed to the boys dorms.

"See you next term."

"Right, see you."

**Ehh, I'm not very happy with this chapter but I wanted to get it out of the way. The next one should be up soon. Heheh, King of Pentacles, I think we all know who is making an appearance soon. ^^**


	12. Chapter 12

"Oh my Goodness..."

"Hope, what did this do?"

"And this small box cooks food, right? I think I saw it at my Gran's house. She's muggle-born, remember? And Mum took Muggle Studies and told me about them..."

Hope and Rebekah exchanged amused glances; watching the three girls flit about the home was like watching hyper, long haired puppies.

Earlier that day, Hope had awoken to being shaken violently and being hit with pillows by Parvati and Lavender, demanding she wake up so they can head back to London for the Christmas holidays. Hope, more than happy to forget the troubling readings she'd had with Harry, had gladly gotten ready as fast as she could and had zipped to Hogsmeade station with everyone else. Then she had indulged in a lengthy make-out session with Fred in their train car as they only had a few more hours together. How they managed to get a car to themselves? She had no clue. Though she figured Parvati and Lavender had decided to hang out with Seamus and Dean. Padma was also nowhere to be found, though everyone knew she had managed to find a train car to herself with Cedric.

"I guess it's good you hooked him with a Ravenclaw... how else would that idiot pass his classes, even if he is three years over her?" Fred had muttered during one of their oxygen breaks, earning him a elbow to the ribs before he quieted whatever retort she had brewing with his lips.

However, they had used their time constructively as well. She badgered him into teaching her a spell she wasn't supposed to learn until her fourth year. The summoning spell.

"Now, point your wand and say 'accio' and try to bring it to you."

There were a few misses, but after a while she finally got it. "Accio chocolate frog!" and she squealed in amazement when the chocolate frog flew at her then yelped when it hit her in the face. After she recovered she demanded he teach her the banishing charm.

"Depulso!" she pointed her wand and was delighted when the frog flew out of her hand and then frowned when it flew out of the window. "Oops..."

"Why do you want to learn that now and not later?" Fred asked, pulling her back into his lap and kissing her on the forehead.

"Ehh... because I'm impatient..." she offered with a smile.

The real reason was due to her tarot reading making her antsy. She wanted to be prepared on the off chance something did happen that called for more spells in her very limited arsenal.

When the train arrived in London, the pair had quickly extracted themselves, not wanting to be caught by their families and subjected to awkward questioning. She even made sure to take extra time getting her things once Fred left the train so as not to raise parental suspicion. However, she had an eerie feeling her aunt knew something was up given the way the vampire's eyes narrowed and her delicate nose sniffed the air. Fred had left Hope in a right state. Damned vampires and their noses.

However, the ride home was amusing to say the least. When the girls piled into Rebekah's car, the twins and Lavender were like eager little puppies looking at everything muggle society had to offer. They badgered the both of them with endless questions that left Rebekah and Hope both amused an exasperated. Now, they were home and the three were flitting about the place, looking at everything from the television to the microwave.

They oohed and ahhed at everything and Hope got a good laugh when Padma clicked the remote and fell back on the couch in shock when the TV came on.

"If you think that's, cool..." Hope turned on her X-Box and after a few moments pulled up Netflix. After a moment of searching she pulled up the first Carrie movie. "It's the movie that's based off the book I loaned you." The twins and Lavender sat eagerly on the couch, wide-eyed and open mouthed at the television when the haunting music began to play. However, it seemed that fascination with electronics would only go so far when the three did as most people who watch a movie based off a book; rip it apart.

"Hold on, in the book, Carrie was fat. Why is she skinny?" Parvati questioned.

"Hollywood idiocy..." Rebekah said from her chair, passing the girls a bowl of popcorn.

Moments passed and now Padma had her mouth open in shock at one of the scenes. "Did she really just slap her with the book?"

"_When God made Eve from the rib of Adam... and Eve was weak and unleashed the Raven on the world. The Raven was called Sin. Say it."_

"What? I've read the Christian bible... it doesn't say that! How mental is she?" Parvati scoffed, getting comfortable on the sofa.

"I still say Carrie's a muggle-born witch..." Lavender said, nodding sagely.

A few moments later and they were all marveling at the tactics Chris used to get Billy to do what she wanted.

"What a whore!" Parvati exclaimed then covered her mouth. "Sorry, Rebekah..."

Rebekah only waved her hand nonchalantly. "No worries."

Honestly, sitting here in a room full of silly teenaged girls, watching old movies, Rebekah had never had this much fun.

The movie was over and the girls had filled their bellies with a wonderful lunch as well as received presents. Rebekah had given each of them lovely gold necklaces with their initials in diamonds and was nearly bowled over by a thirteen year old group hug.

* * *

It was only due to a certain brunette's love of a show called Supernatural that he was able to trace a phone via GPS. He might actually sit down and watch the whole series one day. However, its portrayal of vampires left little to be desired. They didn't even have psychic abilities.

However, that was beside the point. What was the point was the fact that his little search had brought him to a street in England but as he was not invited inside of the home, he would have to wait for an opportune moment.

* * *

When it started getting dark, the girls retreated to Hope's room and Rebekah's hearing could pick up the girls' excited squeals over the marvels of the internet. Now that the girls were busy, she could finally get in a swig of blood. However when she went to her cooler she found that she was out of blood. She meant to restock but had gotten side-tracked buying presents for the girls.

"Hope," Rebekah poked her head into the girls' room. They were currently watching Archer on Netflix, barely holding in the giggles.

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to run and get some things. I'll only be a moment."

Hope nodded, knowing what that meant. Rebekah's blood stash was probably low and she needed to raid the Red Cross or something.

"Okay, we'll be fine."

Rebekah left and Hope ran to the window and waited until Rebekah vamp-sped to the nearest hospital. "And... okay, we've got ten minutes tops!" Going to the computer she quickly typed in a few things, barely containing her giggles. "Okay, that's Kim K, this is Ray J... and... this... is the tape."

Hope sat back and smirked at the scandalized looks on each of their faces. Parvati's mouth fell open, Padma covered hers and Lavender was strangely quiet.

"Uh..."

"Oh my..."

Lavender just swallowed, crossing her legs tightly.

Hope just flopped onto her sleeping bag. "So, Padma... do that with Cedric, yet?"

"WHAT!? NO!" The girl shrieked, causing the rest to crack up laughing before she righted herself. "Did you and Fred do that?"

Now Hope blushed and peaked out the window to make certain Rebekah wasn't back yet. "Well... not that... but... we got pretty handsy... But then he wanted to stop because he didn't want to do it when I was all upset earlier..."

"Awwww! Fred's a romantic! Who knew?!" Lavender squealed.

The girls all broke into giggles while Hope hid behind her pillow. She then cast another glance at the window, hoping Rebekah hadn't returned and heard that.

* * *

It took Rebekah all of ten minutes to speed to the hospital and grab a few blood bags that would last her most of the week. Although to her displeasure, there were no AB negatives... it was a personal favorite of hers.

The sound of footsteps on the tile floor had her tensing and she rose, ready to compel whatever human it was to forget about her. However, when spun around at top speed, all she could do was gasp at who stood before her.

"Hello, Rebekah."

Elijah?"

She took a small step back. She had not been informed that he would be coming here. Was something wrong in New Orleans?

"Elijah, what are you doing here?"

Elijah gave her a small smile. "Well, Rebekah considering that you have told Hope of what we are yet for some reason you have yet to allow Niklaus to speak with her, I thought it best if I were to investigate the matter. Niklaus wanted to come himself but that would have drawn Esther's attention were he to leave to come here of all places." His dark eyes fixed her in her place. "What is going on, Rebekah?"

Swallowing, the blond let out a small breath. "She wasn't home. She was at a sort of boarding school..."

Elijah said nothing, only leaned back against the white wall of the hospital. "And where is she now?"

"She's home for the holidays. Three of her friends are staying with us for a day."

"I see. Take me to her."

Knowing she couldn't refuse him, Rebekah led her brother to the small home that she and Hope had. When Elijah arched his brow at the choice of homes, she shrugged. "It was Minerva's idea. Apparently luxury is like a calling card."

Rebekah went to open the door and both of their hearing picked up the sound of teenage giggling. She glanced back at her brother who had a hopeful expression at getting to hear his niece for the first time. However his brows nearly hit his hairline when he heard the sound of cheesy music as well as moaning from computer speakers.

"I still don't think we should be watching this..." a girl said in a hushed voice.

"Shut up..." another girl hissed back.

"Pay attention, Padma..." another girl cracked, her voice decidedly American "Especially when you and Cedric finally-"

"HOPE!"

Rebekah and Elijah just exchanged glances and then the blond snickered. "I'll have to get her to invite you in. The deed is in her name."

"Good thinking."

Smirking, Rebekah entered the house and Elijah listened. He gave an amused smile when the girl squealed at Rebekah's appearance. "Auntie Bex! I..."

"What are you pervs watching?"

"Nothing!"

"Mm-hmm... can you come with me for a moment?"

There were footsteps and finally his sister rounded the corner, a small brunette in tow. Elijah was struck with how much the girl looked like her parents. Her thick brown hair was certainly from her mother as well as her bone structure; however her eyes, mouth and cheeks were all Niklaus.

The girl's brow furrowed then her eyes widened in recognition. "You're..."

Elijah let out the breath he had been holding. "Hello, Hope. I'm your Uncle Elijah."

Hope stood there dumbstruck until Rebekah nudged her. "You have to invite him in, Hope."

"Oh! Right! Come in!"

Now able to cross the threshold, Elijah entered the house and was unable to stop himself from giving the girl a hug. "You have no idea how wonderful it is to finally meet you."

"You, too..."

He pulled away from her and gave a small smile in the direction of her room. "I do apologize for interrupting your... girls night."

Hope was so in shock at finally meeting one of her family that she had momentarily forgotten the girls in the other room. Rebekah had shown her visions of Elijah, things from his time as a human to one where they had gone to an opera. He was here now, in perfect Armani and was every bit as regal and dignified yet unassuming in a way.

The King of Pentacles flashed through her mind.

Hope gave a little shrug that Elijah found was a lot like Hayley's. "Ehh... they've got Netflix. They'll be all right. But..." she skittered back to her room and poked her head in. "Hey guys, family just showed up..." there was a clicking of keys followed by the start up theme to _A Nightmare Before Christmas._ There was a collective gasp from inside her room and Hope emerged with a smile. "Sorry about that. I figure that'll keep them good for at least an hour."

She sat down on the couch next to him and was suddenly unable to form words. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him but couldn't word them properly. It seemed he was picking up what she was feeling because he only gave her a patient smile. After a while she cleared her throat. "How're Mom and Dad?"

His smile widened now that she had spoken. "They are... well. They are doing what they can to make America safe for you... However, that is a conversation best saved for when your friends have left."

Hope gave a quick nod. "Right..."

"So, Hope... tell me. How have you been? What has your life been like? I wish to hear everything."

Elijah then learned what a little chatterbox the girl was. She couldn't sit still as she told him everything from her first day of kindergarten to her love of sports and dancing.

"I mean, the only reason I'm not playing Quidditch at school is because I'm scared of heights. But, everyone on the house team is great so it's not a big deal."

"I'm sorry? What's Quidditch?"

"Weird game that we play at school on broomsticks. It's like basketball with three hoops and you're flying."

Elijah barely had time to comment or question that when she started again. "Oh! And Professor McGonangall's been super awesome and I'm doing pretty well with transfiguration, though it took me a few tries to turn a teacup into a turtle. I'm good with Charms too. Professor Flitwick said I cast the best Lighting Charm he'd ever seen and in Defense Against the Dark arts, there were these weird things called hinkypunks. They look so pathetic but they're freaky!"

"I'm sorry, Hope, I don't mean to interrupt but what sort of school is this?"

Hope gave him an incredulous look. "Hogwarts. It's a school for witchcraft. I've been going there since I was eleven. My friends in there, they're witches too. They really like Divination but our teacher is totally a fake California psychic..."

However, Elijah was barely listening to her now. Now it clicked into place, why Rebekah refused to compel Hope's rival to be nicer to her. It was impossible if the girl was a witch. Here she had led him to believe that Hope attended a normal school with normal children and she was actually attending a school for witches? And from the sound of it Minerva taught there as well. Why had Rebekah kept this from him?

"Elijah..." Rebekah had just returned from putting away her bloodbags and had more than likely heard the whole conversation. She stood there, her face awash with trepidation.

"Ah, Rebekah," Elijah said cordially though inwardly he was seething. "Hope has been telling me all about her school. I had no clue Minerva was now a professor."

Rebekah opened her mouth to reply but Elijah beat her to it, turning to Hope. "Hope, I do believe you have been from your friends long enough. You should probably return to them so as not to be a rude hostess."

Hope's brow furrowed as she looked back and forth between her aunt and uncle but she did as she was told, casting a wary glance over her shoulder. She entered her room, finding her friends still in a movie trance as Jack decided to make himself Santa. She eased onto her bed, feeling uneasy. However, she tried to put it out of her mind and enjoy the movie.

* * *

When Hope had gone to the other girls, Elijah gripped Rebekah's arm and sped her outside. Once safe from prying ears, he fixed the woman with a hard glare.

"Sister, you have much explaining to do. Not only have you kept things from me and lied about her education, but you also lied to her parents. Why?"

Rebekah sighed and a took a deep breath through her nose. "When Minerva had come to redo the spell, she also came with an invitation to the school for Hope. Apparently it's hidden and Hope is protected, learning powerful magic. Minerva is a teacher there."

"Have you ever been? To this school?"

"No. But Hope loves it. Her friends, the girls in there, they're also witches. And as for why I didn't tell you, I wanted her to have the choice to go. I wanted her to have a _choice_."

"Rebekah, you should have come to us about this!"

"She was given to me to raise until it was time for her to go back to her parents! That means any decisions about where she goes to school, and what she learns is up to me! And I would much rather learn at a school, in a controlled place by a witch we can trust instead of finding a random coven to teach her. Elijah, she has the potential to make a Bennett witch look like a Halloween decoration. And she wanted to go! So she could become strong enough to go back to New Orleans and help you! Help Nik and Hayley!"

Elijah was quiet as he listened, letting her speak. Once she was done, he voiced another question. "That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell us."

"Because, like I said, I wanted her to have the choice. I'm sorry, but, all that ever happens in this family are choices being taken away. I love my brother but do you think for a second that he would have let her have this choice?" She then gave a wry smile, "Besides, I did it as a favor to Minerva. This school was hidden from us for about as long as we've been alive and she was willing to trust me. With Nik's track record do you think she would have been willing to help us if he knew of the school? His penchant for blackmailing and threatening and harming witches? The New Orleans witches? The Bennett witch?" Now her eyes hardened. "Celeste?"

Elijah's back went rigid and his face hardened, and when he spoke his voice was frost. "You dare speak of her to me, when you are no less guilty than he? Remember Genevieve? You and Marcel conspired with her and brought forth Mikael, and look where that has gotten us!"

"Yes, and he was killed. Then Mikael was brought back by Davina because, wait... let me see... what happened? Oh, right! Someone killed her first love! Who did that? Oh, right! Nik!" Now she took a deep breath, "I know I am not innocent. I know the terrible things I've done, that you, Nik, Kol and Finn have done. You've said it before. She's inherited none of our defenses with all of our enemies. Now she's learning to best be able to defend herself from people we can trust. Are you really going to take away her best chance?"

* * *

When the two returned, they found the girls had vacated Hope's room and were now engaged in Super Smash Brothers on one of Hope's game systems.

"Hope, how do I jump again?"

"How is Lavender even good at this?"

"Yes! I win!"

Hope was the only one not joining in the massacre. She was sitting on the couch, instructing here and there when she could, but it seemed her mind was elsewhere. When she noticed her family had returned she got up and her friends noticed as well.

"Hope, how do I pause the game?" Parvati hissed before finally finding the button and standing up to introduce herself.

"Hello, ladies." Elijah said pleasantly.

Hope quickly introduced her friends to her uncle who all seemed subtly impressed by him. There was a moment when a blush stained Lavender's cheeks and Hope gave her an incredulous look before fighting to keep from rolling her eyes.

"And you're all students at Hogwarts, I believe it's called, correct?" Elijah asked, then gave a reassuring smile at their shock. "I'm Rebekah's brother and I am in fact aware of witchcraft. Also, friends of Hope's are friends of mine, and please, call me Elijah. Now, have you all eaten?"

The girls all looked at each other before Hope answered. "We had lunch when we got off the train but that was a few hours ago."

"I see. Well, please, allow me to treat you all to dinner."

The girls all jumped at that and eagerly went to put away the games and movies. Lavender had disappeared into the bathroom, lamenting quietly that she had nothing to wear while Hope rolled her eyes. As they scurried, Rebekah gave Elijah a suspicious look that he only returned with a small smile.

Once they were ready, they all piled into Rebekah's car and were soon seated in a rather lovely and expensive Italian themed restaurant. He managed to get them the best table in the house (through compulsion though the girls didn't realize that) and were now looking over the menu.

"Hope, I don't get muggle prices..." Lavender whispered to the girl, not wanting to commit a faux pas by ordering the most expensive thing.

"Ehh..."

"Lavender, please. It is no issue. Get whatever you wish," Elijah assured her and the girl flushed bright red but placed her order.

It had been a most informative night for Elijah. He did not get a threatening vibe from any of her friends. In fact, the blonde and the sister from Hope's house seemed enamored by him. He did learn much from those two as well as Hope. However Padma, the quieter of the sisters, had said that they had to use codes as they weren't supposed to talk about it around 'muggles' which was the term for humans without magic. But, from what they did mention was that the school had four houses and that there was a ceremony that sorted students into the houses. Hope and her two friends were in the house of the chivalry, bravery, daring and determination while the quieter girl was in the house that emphasized on intelligence, wit, originality and wisdom. There was another house that emphasized hard work, patience and loyalty and a house that emphasized on cunning and resourcefulness however their faces all soured at the mentioning.

"Yeah... we really don't like them..." Hope said when he rose his brows at their expressions.

"Her arch rival is from that house..." Parvati explained.

"The girl who started those malicious rumors?" Elijah asked and Hope turned to Rebekah who had been quiet during most of the meal.

"I may have told him..." Rebekah shrugged sheepishly.

"Eh..." Hope went back to her food. "Pansy Parkinson. We all hate her."

"And her vile git of a boyfriend," Parvati said and she and Hope clinked their water glasses in agreement.

"Though he does fancy Hope." Lavender piped up and Hope sent her a glare.

"Ew. Lavender, I'm eating... and no he doesn't. He's just looking at everything that doesn't look like a dog because Pansy escaped the pound and followed him home."

Elijah gave a smirk. It seemed Hope inherited Hayley's sarcasm and wit.

Once the meal was over and they were back in the car, they explained things to him in more detail. They spoke of Quidditch, as well as their classes and he found Hope was rather adept in Ancient Runes as well as coming along in the class taught by Minerva. There was a debate about Divination because two of the girls seemed to think it was the best thing ever while Hope kept coughing and muttering "California Psychic" under her breath. He had asked about the teacher that had encouraged the rumors about Hope and the car basically exploded in a fit of teenage fury.

"Oh my God! I hate him! He's such a jerk!" Hope cried.

"He's always mean to Gryffindor and lets Slytherin get away with murder because he's their head of house!" Lavender said indignantly.

"And he's so mean to Harry for no reason!" Parvati put in.

"He's got a reason. I'd be a jerk too if my hair looked like that..." Lavender huffed and the girls all broke into giggles.

"Let's buy him shampoo for Christmas!" Hope cheered which caused another fit of laughter.

"He'll run from it!" Parvati insisted.

"Please. It'll be like that Pokemon game Hope showed us," Padma insisted. "Gryffindor used shampoo attack on wild Snape. It had no effect."

Rebekah even broke into laughs at that and Elijah even had to smile.

Once they made it back, he said goodnight and goodbye to each of the girls, claiming he was only in town for the night and had to leave straight away. The girls (especially Lavender) expressed sadness that he had to leave so quickly but sad goodbye to him before turning in for the night.

Elijah turned to Rebekah after she shut the door to Hope's room when the girls all passed out on various blankets and sleeping bags.

"I admit, she does seem very happy at this school. And her friends are all very... charming."

Rebekah had the feeling he wanted to say they were silly but was being polite. "This was an attempt to find out more about the school from them, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was. However, I will bring it to her parents attention what has been happening. As her parents it is their right to know what is going on in their child's life. I will, however, express that it is within her best interest that she remain there until her education is complete... Especially if she can transform teacups into turtles..."

Rebekah gave a relieved smile and hugged her brother. "Thank you... And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before."

"All is forgiven, from me at least. Niklaus may be a bit harder to convince but I'll make certain to make him see your point of view." He headed for the door and gave his sister a parting smile. "You've raised her well. Goodbye, sister. Merry Christmas." And then he was gone.

Once he had left, Rebekah let out the breath she was holding. That didn't go quite as horrible as she had expected it to go. She turned to head back to her own room and jumped when she saw Hope standing in the hall.

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"Why didn't you tell my parents about where I went to school?" Hope countered.

Rebekah let out a sigh and eased her to sit in the living room. "Your father and I never really saw eye to eye on a lot of things. I thought he might not want you attending and considering you really wanted to go, I wanted you to have that option."

Hope just gave her an uncannily perceptive look. "There's more, but you're not telling me until we have the house to ourselves again? Right?"

"Basically. Now go back to your friends."

Hope huffed but did as she was told. She crawled into her sleeping bag, having given her bed to Parvati and Padma and her air mattress to Lavender. Her mind flitted back to that reading. So far the King of Pentacles had come, her uncle. What was the Five of Wands, Moon, the Wheel and the Three of Swords?

However, such thoughts were no match for her sleepy body and she soon drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Hope... Hope..."

Hope's eyes opened to a bright sunny morning when she felt a poke in her side as well as someone whispering her name. It was Parvati.

"What...?"

"I don't want to wake you but... I'm a bit hungry..."

Hope yawned and got up, heading to kitchen with Parvati in tow. She opened the fridge and was disappointed when there was hardly any breakfast good other than one frozen waffle. They had went a little crazy on the food yesterday.

"Ehh... wanna go to the diner up the street? They have awesome pancakes and sausage."

Parvati nodded eagerly and Hope scribbled a quick note on the fridge and grabbed some money from a jar on the counter. The two quickly dressed and had asked if Lavender and Padma wanted to come but they sleepily declared they wanted more snooze time and fell promptly back to sleep.

The two girls skittered out of the house and toward the diner and both had to admit it was nice not having adult supervision.

"Apparently this is where I first showed powers..." Hope told Parvati after their orders came. "I set a thing of onions on fire when the waitress messed up my order..."

Parvati just smirked. "With your temper, I believe it..."

After eating, they paid and left, and instead of heading home, decided to check out some small shops. While it was cloudy and windy, it wasn't exactly cold and their wasn't much snow on the ground so it seemed like a good time to take advantage of it before Rebekah took the other three back to King's Cross to meet their families.

As they left one shop, they passed a group of boys who all leered at the two of them. They were being led by a big, fat boy who his friends called "Big D."

"The fuck..." Hope muttered once the boys got onto a bus. She shook her head as they rounded another corner, glad there was no one around. "As if!"

Parvati looked equally disgusted. "Big D? What does that even mean?"

"Douchebag," Hope said simply and they broke into hysteric giggles. The clouds parted and it was sunny again.

Their laughing was cut off by a blur speeding past them. There was a crash and Hope gasped at the sight of a woman, dressed far too coolly for the winter, had Parvati pinned against the wall of an alley. "HEY!"

Hope ran forward and tried to yank the woman off her friend but she was struck in the midsection and force of the blow had her flying into the air and landing hard in a bunch of trashcans.

Seeing stars, Hope tried to get to her feet, wincing at the pain. It was only when she heard Parvati scream that her brain righted itself. She shot to her feet and screamed herself at what she saw.

The woman had Parvati pinned to the wall, face buried in her friend's neck. She pulled back once and Hope saw wicked fangs and veins protruding around the woman's eyes.

Vampire!

Hope grabbed the nearest trashcan and ran forward, swinging with all her might and hitting the vampire in the back. It dropped Parvati and turned to Hope, hissing. The girl backed away, hand automatically going to her wand which was in her pocket. Only, she didn't know much magic that could harm a vampire unless she summoned a stake.

It stalked toward her, bloody fangs glinting. The wind picked up and blew the vampire's hair away from her neck and Hope noticed her choker.

It was gaudy and tacky, and had the same blue stone that was in her aunt's daylight ring.

Hope didn't think, only acted. She pointed her wand at the vampire's necklace. "Accio necklace!"

The necklace flew from the vampire's throat and she looked up in fright as her skin started to sizzle. She sped away and hid beneath a rickety awning of an abandoned building in the alley as it was the only shelter from the sun. Hope's vision swam red and she pointed her wand at the awning. "Depulso!"

The awning shook but didn't move. "DEPULSO!" A screw popped loose and part of it fell. The vampire whimpered and turned frightened eyes to her, pleading. Hope felt nothing for it. It hurt her friend, there was no forgiveness.

"_DEPULSO!"_

The awning flew from the building and the vampire shrieked as it burst into flames and fell to the ground.

"Parvati!" Hope fell to her knees beside her friend who was twitching and whimpering, bleeding profusely from her neck.

"I can fix you..." Hope's mind flashed on stuck to something Rebekah had told her that fateful day she found out she was a witch. Her blood could heal. It healed her mother when she was younger. "Parvati, please trust me..."

Hope punched out one of the windows, wincing when her hand was cut by the glass. She ran back to her friend and pressed the bleeding wound to her lips. Parvati squealed and fought but Hope pressed against her harder. "Trust me! Drink it!"

The blood went down the young witch's throat and Hope let out a sigh of relief when she saw Parvati's wound heal.

Parvati touched her neck, eyes widening when she found no wound and turned to Hope in shock. "Hope... what..."

"Don't tell anyone," Hope whispered to her frantically. "Please!"

**Yes, this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, and unfortunately has no Harry but I wanted to get some action in here. The next chapter (hopefully) will have more Harry moments. **


	13. Chapter 13

"W-what?"

Parvati was on her feet, backing away from Hope, brown eyes wide with astonishment. Her head darted from the girl to the charred, smoking corpse in the alley. "Th-that was a vampire..."

"Yeah..." Hope said warily, hands up in what she hoped was a calming gesture.

"A-and..." Parvati swallowed, seeming to have trouble getting her wits about her. "And... it bit me... you banished its shield off the roof and you healed me... Your _blood-_"

"Parvati... chill out and lets go back, okay? I'll explain everything, I promise..."

Parvati took shallow, frantic breaths and swallowed. "The Ministry..." Hope grabbed the girl's arm and dragged her from the alley.

"Come on, let's go! Their might be more. Sometimes they travel in nests!"

That seemed to jolt the girl out of her trance and she and Hope took off. After a frantic run back to the house, the locked the doors behind them. Hope checked all the windows while Parvati paced back and forth, wringing her hands and whimpering. "I still don't believe that just happened..." now she paused and rounded on Hope. "What happened back there?"

Hope opened her mouth to speak but stopped when Rebekah came from around the corner. She fixed them both with an annoyed stare. "Where have you two been? I go to check on you and I see those two still snoring away, but you're gone?"

"We left on note on the fridge..." Hope said automatically.

Rebekah took in the charged scene between the two girls and arched her brows. "Everything all right?"

"Mm-hmm!" Hope nodded a little too quickly. Parvati stayed oddly quiet when she was normally the loudest one aside from Hope.

Rebekah didn't seem to buy it but she went to the fridge anyway to get food but stopped when she saw it was mostly barren. "Damn... I guess we're going shopping..."

"Um... Auntie Bex? Is it okay if we stay here? I kind of wanted to show them... Miley Cyrus." She said lamely.

Rebekah arched a brow, "You want to traumatize the poor girls? Fine, just don't show them that bloody video with the floating cat at that award show... that was dreadful."

Hope gave a nervous giggle and Rebekah's eyes narrowed. She had a feeling the girls were up to something, or wanted to discuss things that Hope didn't want her vampire ears picking up. More than likely more boys. Or whatever was going on between her and Parvati. However, considering her brother had stopped by and he was swayed to see her side of things, she would indulge them.

"Fine... I'll go shopping and get some more food. You girls stay here and listen to dreadful music that will leave me having to mop up your brains upon my return. But you know the rules. Is there anything you would like?"

Hope shook her head and Rebekah shrugged and grabbed her purse and keys. "All right. Well, I should be back in an hour..." She headed to the door and smirked. "That'll give you plenty of time to watch bad celebrity sex tapes that you think I don't know about..."

"OH MY GOD! Bye, Aunt Bex!"

Rebekah's smirk widened to a grin and she left. Hope watched her get into her truck and then she sighed in relief when she drove off and turned the corner. Once she was gone, she turned to the girl behind her.

"Parvati..."

"What the Hell, Hope!?" Parvati finally shrieked and Hope jumped, not used to Parvati even saying remotely bad words.

"Why are w-we screaming...?" Lavender asked on a yawn, finally out of bed and joining them. She looked at the timid Hope and the livid Parvati and was now fully awake. "What happened?" she asked as Padma joined them.

Hope turned to the two to answer but was cut off by the sound of fluttering from the chimney. After a moment a barn owl and a tawny owl both burst through, letters in their claws that they dropped in front of Parvati and Hope. With all the trepidation in the world, Hope bent down and grabbed her letter, opening it.

_Dear Miss Mitchell,_

_We have received intelligence that a Summoning and Banishing Charm was used this morning at a quarter past seven. As you know, underage wizards and witches are not permitted to perform spells outside of school, and further spellwork on your part may lead yo expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C). We would ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice bu members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy. _

_Have a merry Chirstmas!_

_Yours sincerely, _

_Mafalda Hopkirk_

_Improper Use of Magic Office._

Hope looked up from her letter horrified. Parvati had fallen back on the couch, horrified. Padma, looking between the two, grabbed the letter from her sister and her eyes widened as she read it. "What? Why were you using a Banishing and Summoning charm?! Parvati, do you even know those spells?!" Lavender was currently reading Hope's letter over her shoulder.

"What are they talking about? What happened when you were out?"

Hope opened her mouth, unsure of how to answer but was interrupted when another pair of owls flew through the kitchen window. They dropped another pair of letters in front of the offending girls perched themselves on the kitchen table. Hope sighed and read the other letter, heavily aware of Lavender reading over her shoulder.

_Dear Miss Mitchell,_

_Due to further investigation we have found that there was a burned corpse of a vampire at the scene of the incident. As this was a situation where lives of witches, wizards and Muggles would have been endangered, we have revoked the official warning. Someone from the Ministry shall be over soon to interview you about what happened. _

_Have a merry Christmas!_

_Yours sincerely, _

_Mafalda Hopkirk_

_Improper Use of Magic Office._

Hope let out a sigh of relief that she wasn't in trouble, just being interviewed. She glanced at Parvati as well and saw she now had a blank look on her face as if she didn't know what to make of this.

"A VAMPIRE?!" Lavender shrieked, eyes wide. "What..."

Padma was staring at her sister in horror, and was about to ask her sister what happened. But it seemed at that moment another owl wanted to fly through the window. The living room was beginning to look like the Owlery at school. This time it was a lone screech owl that Hope thought she recognized. It dropped a letter in her lap and she opened it to read.

_Hope,_

_Percy let me use his owl because Errol probably wouldn't make it. Dad told us he found out at work two Gryffindor girls were caught using magic and that there was a dead vampire nearby. Then he told us it was you and Parvati. What happened? Are you all right? Tell me everything. Fred is, as you put it, freaking out. _

_Ginny_

"It's from Ginny. Her dad told the what happened..." Hope said robotically

"He does work for the Ministry, or so this girl in Ravenclaw tells me..." Padma said absently then turned back to her sister. "You were attacked by a vampire?! Did it bite you?"

Parvati was quiet for a moment and Hope's heart thudded in her ears. Would Parvati rat her out about what happened?

After a tense moment, Partvati glanced at Hope briefly and then shook her head. "No... Hope... killed it before it could."

Padma and Lavender both looked at Hope in complete shocked silence. However the bubbly blonde was the first to break it. "Seriously? You killed it?"

"Eh... with a banishing charm..."

"Oh... Parvati... Do you think Mom and Dad got a letter from the Ministry?" Padma asked "We were supposed to go home later tonight... They must be so worried!"

Parvati still said nothing, stared at her hands quietly.

"I think she's in shock..." Lavender said, not used to this quiet Parvati. "Maybe she should lie down..."

At that moment another owl flew in, this time heading toward Padma. She blinked in confusion but opened the letter. A blush flared over her cheeks and she smiled a bit. "It's from Cedric... he heard from his father that you were attacked by a vampire and wanted to know if you were all right as well as Hope. He said he doesn't think you'll be in too much trouble considering that you used magic to save your lives..."

"But someone from the Minsitry is coming by..." Lavender said. "Just tell them what happened, and all should be good."

The Ministry. Hope's eyes widened. She would need to get her story straight for the Ministry, if that were possible. She thought fast, pacing and raking her brain for what she could say. She couldn't mention that she healed Parvati, that was obvious and it seemed that Parvati was keeping her secret. However, what about the necklace? Did the Ministry even know about daylight jewelry? They knew she used a Summoning charm but not why... A stake, she would say she tried to summon a stake to kill it. And it was cloudy out earlier... She could say that the clouds parted and the vamp hid under the awning and she blew it off.

"Parvati, can I talk to you?" she asked and without waiting for an answer, she pulled the quiet girl to the bathroom and sat her down on the toilet. "Parvati... please... When they get here, don't say anything..."

Parvati finally looked up at her and Hope was stricken that her best friend was looking at her as if she didn't know her. "Parvati..."

Parvati was quiet for a moment but she nodded. "You saved me... I owe you..."

It still didn't mean that Parvati was okay with her which did nothing for the rock in Hope's stomach. However she gave a shuddering nod. "Okay... thanks..."

"Hope!" Lavender's voice called. "Someone from the Minsitry of Magic's here!"

Hope took a deep breath and a last look at Parvati and the two had exited the bathroom. A young woman with bright blue spiky hair stood at the door with a bright smile.

"Hi, you must be Hope Mitchell and... which one of you is Parvati Patil?" When Parvati raised her hand the woman nodded and continued "I'm from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. Name's Tonks! May I come in?"

While taken aback by the woman's cheery nature and appearance, Hope's eyes narrowed as she remembered the vampire attack. "Can we have the interview outside?"

The woman's brows raised and she gave Hope an appraising look. "You think I may be a vampire?"

"Not like I have vervain or anything to test it out..."

The woman's brows raised but she gave Hope an approving nod. "And you know the correct defenses against them... Nice. This will make the hearing go in your favor..." She then gave a grin and stepped over the threshold, causing Hope to draw her wand on reflex. "However, as you can see, I was able to step in without an invitation. But, I am more than happy to go back over the threshold so you can invite me in properly."

Hope flushed and exchanged glances with her friends before nodding. "Come in."

The woman smiled thankfully and stepped fully inside. She seemed interested in most of the electronic devices around the home as the others were the day before but she managed to contain herself. She took a seat in a chair by the televison and smiled in recognition at something. "I've only played with one of those once," she said nodding at one of Hope's game systems. "At a muggle relative's. My dad's muggle born so I was spending holiday with his brother's family... and there this girl with pink hair named Lightning and and something called Fal Cie and-" she stopped when she realized she was getting off track. Hope however had a slightly bemused smile. She liked _Final Fantasy 13_?

The woman pulled out a roll of parchment. "Let's see... Parvati Patil, third year at Hogwarts, sorted into Gryffindor House. No serious infractions on your record other than detentions for jinxing a girl in the halls a few times, insubordination to the Potion's master... and throwing an ink bottle at the caretaker's cat."

"The girl started it." Hope said on automatic reflex, slipping back into her American public school days whenever her friends were accused of something.

"Don't worry, I've thrown things at that cat more times than I can remember..." Tonks said with a conspiratorial wink before pulling out another roll of parchment.

"How do they have-," Hope started but Tonks beat her to it.

"Professor Dumbledore had your records sent to us so we could see exactly what type of girls you are... Now Hope Mitchell... Third year at Hogwarts, also Gryffindor and it appears you have quite the number of detentions under your belt, mostly for crude language, insubordination to mostly the Potion's master. Also a ban from one Hogsmeade trip for fighting..."

Hope a feeling this made her out to be a problem child. "They started it. Usually Slytherin."

Was it Hope's imagination or did the woman look as if she wanted to smirk at that.

"So, first of all calm down. No need to be nervous. From what I see here," the witch pulled out a piece of parchment and reading over it, "it's only your first offense. And if it was to fend off a vampire, it will be wiped clean. Now, what happened?"

"Well..." began after she cleared her throat, "We were coming back from a restaurant when we decided to go shopping. Mostly everything was closed though but we didn't feel like going back... Then, that's when it came at us."

"What did it look like?"

"A girl. Blonde... she was dressed way too not-correct for the weather... I mean, who wears a windbreaker in the middle of winter if you're not in Florida?"

"A what?" Apparently she wasn't too familiar with muggle terms.

"Uh... like a muggle spring jacket..." Hope explained at the confused look she got. "But anyway, it rushed Parvati."

She now turned to Parvati, "And what happened then?"

Parvati shuffled her feet cleared her throat. "It rushed me into a wall and went for my neck... It was going to bite me but didn't get the chance."

"Did you use magic to defend yourself?"

"No... Hope did."

The witch nodded and pulled out her wand, "Miss Patil, your wand please. Hold it out."

Parvati looked blank but did as she was told. Tonks pressed the tip of her own wand to Parvati's and yelled "Priori Incantato!"

Thick gray smoke erupted from where the two wands met and it showed what looked like glass pulling itself back together. The Mending Charm. Parvati had broken her hand mirror that morning when they were packing.

"All right, that clears you, dear." The witch then turned to Hope. "Your wand, please?"

Hope swallowed and hesitantly touched the tip of her wand to the witch's as the process was repeated. "Priori Incantato!"

This time when the gray smoke emerged from the wand tips, it took the form of an awning flying from a brick wall, revealing the sunlight. Next was the same awning, only this time it was attached and a screw popped loose. Then the image shifted again and it was the same awning but it shook slightly. Lastly there was choker flying from a woman's throat and then what appeared to be a chocolate frog zooming out of a window.

"I think that just about settles it..." the woman said kindly. "That was some quick thinking on your part, young lady. But, why did you go for her necklace?"

_Shit! Think! Think! _"I was going for something else to hit her with but forgot to say what I was going for and got her necklace instead because I was scared to take my eyes off her..."

When everyone looked at her with perplexed looks while the Ministry officer looked vaguely impressed she shrugged. "What? It's basically fighting 101." she added sheepishly.

Tonks gave her a smile. "My trainer would love you... When you're a little further along in school you might want to think about a job as an Auror... You've already got a vampire kill under your belt."

Hope just blinked in confusion while her friends looked shocked, except for Parvati who was still really quiet. Tonk then gathered her things and stood. "Well, I'll be reporting back to the Ministry. Honestly, you don't have anything to worry about. We checked the seen and everything here adds up... You're lucky to be alive. I don't know a lot of thirteen year old girls who could fight off a vampire and kill it. You're lucky neither one of you were bit either."

Tonks didn't noticed Parati tense and Hope hurried to her feet to show the woman to the door. Time to end this quick.

"So... we're not in trouble?"

"I'll request that warning gets knocked off your record... No need to show me out. Thanks for the clear up! Merry Christmas!" the woman then disappeared on the spot, causing Hope to nearly fall over.

It seemed fortune was on their side because not less than seven minutes after the woman had disapperated from the house, Rebekah had began unlocking the door. Hope turned to her friends and shot them pleading looks that they wouldn't say anything. They all nodded, granted Parvati's nod wasn't very enthusiastic.

"Hope, help me with the bags."

Hope nodded, wondering how her aunt got this much shopping done so quickly but chalked it up to vampire powers.

"What the hell are they doing here?" Rebekah demanded, taking note of the owls all perched around her home.

"Christmas cards..." Hope said, hoping she sounded convincing.

"Well get them out of here," Rebekah grumbled as she set the bag on the counter.

Hope managed to get the owls, too frantic to even argue. She then proceeded to serve Padma and Lavender waffles while Parvati sat on the couch, staring blankly at a television show though it didn't seem as if she were really seeing it.

"What are you watching?" Hope asked hesitantly.

"No idea..."

Rebekah looked up from where she was fixing herself breakfast. "Good lord, is that Desperate Housewives? Hope, are you determined to pollute them with every trashy thing on Netflix?"

"Yep!" Hope said with cheer, hoping she seemed convincing.

"Well, after you finish eating and rotting your skulls, get ready. What time were your parents coming to get you?" Rebekah asked.

Padma looked at the clock. "They said they would be at the Leaky Cauldron around noon. It's ten-fifty." Lavender and Padma then looked at each other and proceeded to wolf down everything as if they would never eat again, then placed their dishes in the sink dishwasher the way Hope showed them. Padma had to yank Parvati off of the couch. "C'mon, we have to pack and we can't use magic, it's going to take longer!"

A half hour later the group was piling out of Rebekah's car and entering the pub. All around them were moving pictures of Sirius Black, glaring at them. There were also notices of dementors patrolling the streets at dusk and to finish all business before that time. They got themselves a table and waited for the Patils. Padma and Parvati were both exchanging worried glances while Lavender was bouncing, clearly dying to talk some more about what happened at the house. However Hope was sort of preocupied looking at a paper someone had left on the table. It was from The Daily Prophet and there was an article about werewolves and a woman named Dolores Umbridge spearheading a werewolf registration act and how it made bitten wolves, such as the ones she was forced to do an essay on in class, unable to find employment. Her upper lip curled in disgust and while her belly flared with a new type of fury. She crumpled the paper and hurled it toward the fire with a growl of rage.

"Hope, what is it?" Lavender asked, surprised at her friend's outburst.

Hope said nothing only glared angrily at the fire. As much as she loved this new world she was a part of it was just as backwards and fucked up as the muggle world. In some places it was hard for certain people to find work and were discriminated against, and she found she was shocked and repulsed to find that here. Although she shouldn't have been due to all of that muggle-born Chamber of Secrets drama that happened last year and the way they called Hermione 'mudblood'. Would it be like that if her mom were to be apart of her life here? She'd have to hide who she was just so she could get a job at a store?

She brooded about this silently for a while, unaware of the worried glances Padma and Lavender were sending her. Rebekah only watched her beadily from the corner of her eye. Finally a handsome Indian couple entered the pub. They saw the group and rushed over, the woman wrapping her arms around Parvati in a frantic hug. "We got the letters from the Ministry, we were so worried! A va-"

"Mom!" Padma hissed and then rapid-eye glanced at Rebekah who was too confused by the scene to notice.

The woman took in Rebekah's muggle clothing and seemed to catch on. Figuring the blond was a muggle woman with no knowledge of the supernatural world other than her niece was a witch and not wanting to frighten her, she simply smiled at her. "Rebekah, lovely to see you again. Your niece is a wonderful girl."

"Thank you..." Rebekah said though a bit confused, as if there were something she weren't getting.

She then turned and gave Hope a hug that was longer than necessary. Hope hugged the woman back awkwardly and received the same greeting from the man. She hazard a glance at Rebekah who was looking as if she were trying to puzzle something out.

"Hope, if you need anything from us, never hesitate to ask." Mr. Patil declared and Hope nodded awkwardly.

"Right..."

"Come along now, girls. Nice seeing you, Rebekah. Take care of yourself, Hope. Merry Christmas." The couple then went to the fire place and tossed green powder onto the flames, turning them green. Rebekah watched with interest as one by one they all called out an address and disappeared from sight.

"Wh-what?" Rebekah gasped, pointing and earning a few laughs from the patrons.

"It's Floo Powder," Hope laughed, leading Rebekah out and back to the car. "Parvati told me about it last night. I'll explain it in the car."

* * *

When Harry awoke that morning to Ron jumping on his bed and declaring that it was Christmas and it was time for presents, he sat up groggily. His past couple of days had been quite horrible. After everyone had left for the holidays the only ones who remained were Ron and Hermione and he was very grateful that they opted to stay and keep him company though they insisted it was for other trivial reasons. However, despite his happiness at that, he couldn't get his mind off of Hope's readings from the other night. An unfair ruling had him confused until he heard that Buckbeak was going to stand execution and there was to be a trial. From the sound of it, if it had to do with her reading, then Buckbeak was going to die. When it was all Malfoy's fault. Also, they spoke of more unfairness and a wish not being granted because of unfairness. Also a sneak and a cruel person and an obsession to right a wrong going wrong. He honestly wished she were here so he could speak with her. However, the thoughts were put out of his mind once he had gotten wind that Cho was staying over the break as well. And that caused Hope's other readings... the ones that had his blood rushing to his cheeks and southern place, came into his head.

However, now he wasn't focusing on that. Now he was focusing on presents. Moving to the foot of his bed, he went through the pile of presents. Most were from Mrs. Weasley who had sent him the usual knit sweater, a dozen mince pies, a box of nut brittle and Christmas cake. But nothing compared to the surprised he received in a long, thin package.

It was a Firebolt! The same broom he had been salivating over in Diagon Alley during the summer. Ron had fallen off of the bed once it was unwrapped and had rushed over to get a better look. They spent the better part of a half hour wonering who sent Harry such a miraculous broom as it had no card when Hermione walked in carrying Crookshanks.

"Get that cat out of here!

However, she merely let him go and stared open-mouthed at his new broom. "Who sent you that?"

However when he told her about the mystery sender she seemed to clam up, and frown. However, when she opened her mouth to speak, Crookshanks leaped onto Ron, claws digging in his chest as he went for Scabbers who hid in his pajama pocket

"GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Ron yelled, finally prying the cat off of him and giving him a good toss towards the door. The cat landed on his feet but hissed menacingly at Ron who threw one of Harry's shoes at it.

"RON!" Hermione shrieked, eyes furious.

"Get that cat out of here!" Ron growled, holding onto his chest which was bleeding a bit.

Hermione stalked out of the room, taking the cat with her. Ron, in such a state over his abused rat and his abused chest, went back to his bed fuming. Harry looked back and forth between the two of them and decided to take to exmaning his broom. Ron's rat on the other hand was shivering and squeaking with fear. And Harry had an eerie feeling that Scabbers was close to the end of his life, and he knew Ron well enough to know he would be miserable if the rat died.

He spent most of the day in the common room, ogling his new broom while Hermione and Ron gave each other the silent treatment for the better part of a few hours. And he might have been imagining it, but it seemed Hermione was upset about his broom as well. However, he didn't dwell on it. He had a new Firebolt and Cho had decided to stay during the holiday. So far, life was good.

* * *

"Auntie... can I ask a question?"

Hope and Rebekah were now home from the Leaky Cauldron and the girl was sitting at the table while the vampire prepared dinner. It seemed Rebekah didn't think much of the weird display at the pub, the Floo powder distracting her from it entirely. Now, however, it was Hope's mind that could use distraction. She kept thinking about what she did read today and that brought up other questions about her heritage. Such as her wolf side considering that asinine essay Snape had made them do. "Apparently at school people think werewolves are extinct... Well, the cursed wolves. We were mainly learning about bitten wolves."

"Bitten wolves?" Rebekah asked from her spot at the counter. "That's actually real?"

"Yeah... but why do they think cursed ones are extinct?"

"Because cursed wolf venom is lethal to vampires. They were hunted down. Now there's only a handful of scattered packs, mostly in America. I'm guessing since they mostly live among muggles, as your schoolmates so affectionately call them, they weren't really documented as still being alive by wizards."

"This bitch is leading a legislation act against bitten wolves, making it hard for them to get a job in the wizard world.," Hope hissed, too incensed to even think of censoring herself. "It's just like the racist and homophobic crap here!"

Rebekah's brows shot up, more at the passion in her niece's voice as well as the absuridity of what she just heard. "Are you serious? Is that why you chucked that paper in the fire at the pub?"

"Yeah..." Hope grumbled. "So, if I was a full wolf would I have to sit on the back of the Knight Bus and crap? What is that? I mean, what even _is that?!"_

Rebekah said nothing, only looked at the calendar, noting that is was a full moon tonight. No wonder her niece was in such a right state. On her period and dealing with untriggered wolf rage. "Hope, why don't you have a chocolate pudding?"

"I want to find whoever this cow is and beat the crap out of her for recreational purposes..." Hope grumbled as Rebekah set a pudding in front of her but ate it anyway. She seemed to calm down the tiniest bit after the first bites. "Oh... can I ask another question?"

"You're going to ask me anyway..."

"You told me I had vampire and wolf in me... You told me about being a cursed wolf but you never told me how that works..."

Rebekah sighed and put down the knife she was using to chop up vegetables. She had always thought Hope was too young to know this part of her heritage but after what had happened with those dementor things, she couldn't really coddle the girl any longer.

"You're born with the werewolf gene... and with that comes certain... traits. Mostly heightened aggression and anger, even before its triggered. Which is why you have such a foul temper... For girls, it happens earlier since girls go through puberty and mature earlier than boys. Around the full moon, even if it's not triggered you'll have overwhelming fits of rage."

Hope swallowed the lump in her throat as things began to click. The day Snape ticked her off and she kept snapping and that fight with Pansy in the bathroom.

"Huh... well, that explains that day in the bathroom..." at Rebekah's arched brow she explained. "I got into a fight with a girl... it was pretty bad... like I wanted to kill her, bad."

Rebekah did not even look surprised, her shoulders only sagged as she sighed. "I was wondering when that would happen... But if you don't want to trigger the curse, you'll have to control that temper. The way you trigger it, you have to kill someone. It doesn't matter if it's accidental like an accident or on purpose..."

Hope's mind flashed to the vampire she killed and a cold wash of fear slid over her skin, her spoon clattered to the table. "W-what...?"

"Yes. You have to end a human life and then you're stuck with the curse. Granted, you're a hybrid so you would be able to turn whenever you wanted but would you really want that on your conscious?"

Hope's mind latched onto what Rebekah said and that fear began to recede. "You said a human life?"

"Yes."

"So... vampires wouldn't count?" she asked without thinking.

Rebekah's brow furrowed. "Why are you asking-" she stopped when she picked up the girl's pounding heart and her eyes narrowed and she turned to face Hope fully. "What happened while I was gone?"

The girl paled, fear coating her. "Uh..."

"What happened?!" Rebekah demanded, invading her personal space. She looked furious, almost on the verge of fangs.

Hope said nothing, only scooted back from her. Finally she began talking. "A vampire attacked Parvati today and I used a spell to kill it. I used a banish spell to blow away what it was hiding under..."

Rebekah took three deep breaths through her nose to calm herself from the rage and fear that flared up. "So, that's why her mother parents were treating you like a hospital worker who saved their kid. Tell me everything."

Hope explained the what happened, from going to the diner all of the way to the Ministry official coming by and how she wasn't a vampire because she was able to step over the threshold. However she left out the bit about healing Parvati with her blood.

"And she wore a daylight necklace?" Rebekah asked and Hope nodded.

"Yeah..." she reached into her back pocket and handed the choker to her. "This was it."

Rebekah took it, examining it. "I've never seen this before... Maybe it was a just a random vampire, but we can't take any chances."

Hope watched as the vampire pulled out her cell and pressed a few buttons. However, she paled at the next words that came from her aunt's mouth. "Elijah... The day after you left, Hope and her friend were attacked by a vampire."

She was calling uncle Elijah? Was he going to come back? Was he going to demand she stop going to Hogwarts and come back to the U.S.? Hope strained to her but was unable. However, after a moment Rebekah moved to the computer and began clicking at the keys. "Hope, come here..."

She got up and stood nervously at Rebekah's side. Why was she signing into Skype? "Aunt Bex?"

"Elijah's plane had just landed, but he's about to do what he can on that matter. You're about to talk to your mother."

Now a whole new nest of worms wriggled in her stomach.

Hope was barely ready when Rebekah made her sit in the chair in front of the screen and she was suddenly face to face with a beautiful brunette woman she had only seen fleetingly in visions. The woman's mouth broke into a surprised and trembling smile. "Hey Hope..."

Blue eyes widened and she struggled to speak. "Hi... Mom..."

Haley let out a trembling breath and tears welled into her eyes. "You've gotten so beautiful..."

"I have your hair..." Hope said lamely and Haley let out a laugh.

"Yeah, you do..." her smile turned mischievous "And your uncle tells me you're a bit of a smartass..."

Now Hope gave a shrug. "Eh... kind of..."

Haley laughed some more but then turned serious. "Hope, tell me everything that happened."

Again, Hope relayed the story, withholding certain parts, and when she got to the part with the necklace, Rebekah held it up for Haley to see before taking a picture of it.

"I haven't seen any vampires wearing a necklace like that here in the Quarter... and the vampires here are all ran by Elijah and Marcel. Maybe that was just a random dumbass who didn't know who she was messing with but I doubt it. London is a pretty popular place for vamps but we can't be too careful. I'll check for more disappearances in your area and we'll see. If there were, then you probably just saved a whole bunch of people, Hope."

"Oh... huh..." Hope flushed happily to herself before having to ask. "Since I killed her... am I going to turn into a wolf?"

Haley smiled and shook her head. "No. A wolf in the pack had killed a vampire a long time before he was activated. He ended up drunk driving and killing someone and that's when the curse was activated. You'll be fine. Besides, its a full moon tonight right? Trust me, you'd know..."

Hope let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. "Okay... cool... That'd make school really awkward..."

"Speaking of school, your uncle told me about the school you're going to-" her eyes narrowed briefly at Rebekah who stood behind Hope before turning back to her daughter. "Basketball on brooms?"

Hope smiled and gladly launched into telling her all about school, her friends and the classes she was taking. Haley grinned in surprised pride when she went into detail about how she could turn inanimate objects into living creatures as well as her skill with reading cards. She huffed out scathing comments when she was told about the horrors of her girl war with Pansy. "Seriously, sweetie, don't do the tacky thing and go after her boyfriend."

"I'd rather eat fried slug marinated in snot..."

"Ewww..." both Haley and Rebekah groaned.

"But he does check me out a lot... If I have to be honest, he's pretty to look at and he probably looks at me because I'm pretty to look at...

"I see you got that Mikaelson humbleness..." Haley said sarcastically.

Hope only smirked and continued. "-and his girlfriend's a beast... like a crime against God and Man."

"Ah, well that explains it..."

"Mmhmm! Let me tell you about that kennel club!"

Haley then broke into unladylike snorts and giggles at the colorful descriptions of her daughter's arch nemeses.

"Seriously, it's like Miley Cryus and Pakkun from Naruto had a baby and that baby was guest star on American Horror Story! Oh my God! And Mom, seriously! Her friend Millicent... ugh! Her mom needs to slapped for naming her that. It doesn't make sense. She should've named her Military! I mean, you're a hybrid but I would be scared for you if you crossed her!"

"Why's that?" Haley asked, face red from giggles.

"Because! She's scary! She's this big, strong heifer... built like an old school Pac Man machine, looks like she just got finished bench pressing a Buick for no reason!" It seemed ragging on her enemies was a much better distraction from her rage this day.

Haley nearly toppled out of her chair and had tears rolling she was laughing so hard. Even Rebekah was in stitches at her descriptions.

"Oh my God, once you come back to New Orleans... I'm getting you a gig at a comedy club..." her mother declared once she was under control. "But, once you get off the computer with me, I want you to write the witch who placed that spell on you. See if there's other protection she can place."

"Okay," Hope nodded.

"Do you really send letters with owls?" Haley asked finally.

"They do, and her owl is a dreadful little beast..." Rebekah piped up from behind Hope who turned to glare at her.

"He's not a beast! He's really sweet. I'll go get him." She ran off to her room to get her owl. When she returned, the annoyed looking bird was perched on her arm. "This," she said making certain he was visible in the webcam, "is Nik. I named him after Dad."

Haley grinned, "He looks just like him... God, that expression."

Hope grinned back then bit her lip, suddenly nervous. "Is Dad around?"

Haley gave her a sad smile. "Your uncle told him what happened and he flew into a fit. He's out right now trying to find out what happened. He doesn't think it was just a coincidence."

Hope paled but otherwise remained expressionless. "Do you?"

"I don't know. And make sure to call us in the morning. I'll make certain your Dad's around so you can talk to him."

Hope gave a half smile to hide her nervousness and nodded. "All right..."

"I just can't get over how beautiful and strong you are. Last I saw you, you were this tiny little thing trying to tear my hair out," Haley said, tears falling "I love you, baby girl."

Hope felt her own eyes prickle a bit. "I love you too, Mom."

* * *

It was the Christmas feast and Harry, now was overtly happy about his new Firebolt, was chowing down happily. There were not many students there but to his immense nervousness as well as pleasure, Cho had stayed at Hogwarts and had taken to giving Harry small smiles when they had passed in the halls. Also, at the feast Dumbledore had Snape pull the end of a noise maker that had turned into the very replica of the hat Boggart-Snape had worn due to Neville's ingenuity. Snape was not amused and Dumbledore had happily swapped it for his own hat.

However, during a dry but heated debate between Trelawney and McGonagall, an owl had fluttered into the Hall and dropped a letter in front of the Transfiguration teacher.

"Isn't that Hope's owl?" Ron asked, gesturing at the bird.

Harry looked up and indeed it was Nik. McGonagall pulled the letter from the owl's foot. She read the letter and her sharp eyes widened and she showed the letter to Dumbledore who sobered immediately. He whispered something to her and she excused herself from the table. However, before she could leave, Hermione got up and followed the teacher out. "I need to speak with her about something," the bushy-haired girl had replied before she left the table.

Once she left, Cho had moved to take her vacated seat much to his surprise.

"Hi Harry..."

His stomach twisted in tight little knots. "Hi Cho..."

She was quiet for a bit before speaking. "I heard about your Nimbus... I'm sorry."

Harry shrugged and brightened, glad to have something to talk with her about. Besides, this gave him something to mention that might impress her. "I got a Firebolt this morning."

Her pretty brown eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "Seriously?"

"Yeah!" Ron had said loudly through a mouth full of food on Harry's other side, "You don't stand a chance at the match! You're going to get creamed worse than when you faced Hufflepuff."

If ever there was a time Harry wanted to pull a Hope and spew the crudest things ever at the redheaded boy, this was it. As much as he wanted to beat Ravenclaw so they could annihilate Slytherin did Ron really have to go there?

Cho's eyes narrowed at the boy and her shoulders straightened. "We'll just have to wait until the match to see, won't we?" She then stood, "I think I'll go back to my common room. See you, Harry."

Harry watched her leave helplessly and as her back retreated from the exit he whirled on Ron. "Really?"

Ron was taken aback. "What?"

Rolling his eyes, Harry got up, no longer hungry. "I'm going to polish my new broom..." _And see if I can stop myself from beating you over the head with it._

Much to his chagrin, he didn't run into Cho on his way to the common room (not that he was hoping or anything) but his mood lightened once he went to his room and saw his Firebolt waiting for him. Unable to keep his hands off of it, he got the broom servicing kit but found it useless as his new broom was already perfect. When Ron had returned with extra snacks, he found just looking at the broom had made him get over his annoyance with the boy so they just by the common room fire, taking it in when McGonagall and Hermione entered and that's when it all went to hell.

Hermione had skittered, red-faced to a chair and picked up a book, hiding her face from view. McGonangall took notice of the girl, only pausing to sweep her eyes over Harry's new Firebolt. "So, that's it then. Miss Granger told me you received a broomstick. May I?"

She had taken it without waiting for permission and examined it. As she did so he turned to look at Hermione who was still hiding behind her book. She proceeded to ask him who left it and when he said he had no answer, the worst thing in the world happened. She took it, and worse, proclaimed it would be stripped down.

"You can't do that!"

"I'm afraid I must. However, if all is well, then it will be returned to you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some urgent business to attend to."

She left without another word, leaving Harry stuned though he vaguely noticed Ron and Hermione shouting at each other. Ron was calling Hermione a sneak and a tattle while Hermione had come up with the ridiculous notion that it was sent by Sirius Black. Harry honestly wanted to hear none of it. So, leaving the kit she had bought for him, he stormed back up to the boys dorms, slamming the door so hard the walls rattled.

* * *

"Can you not stay out of trouble for one day, even on break, Mitchell?"

When Minerva apparated into Hope's living room, Hope almost fell over. She so wasn't used to that yet.

"Hi, Professor..." she muttered from her spot on the couch. She had been trying to distract her mind with _A Charlie Brown Christmas_ and failing.

"A vampire? First Potter and Weasley with a troll, then Potter with the basilisk and now you with a vampire..."

Hope shrugged sheepishly. "Erm... it was a bad day?"

Minerva just threw her hands up and turned to Rebekah who was sipping a drink by the fire. "So, if I got some green powder and tossed it on the fire, I'd be able to go anywhere?"

Minerva glanced at Hope who explained. "She saw the Patils use the Floo network at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Oh... and no, muggle fireplaces can't be connected to the network, it's illegal."

Rebekah pouted and stood to offer the woman a stiff glass of liquor which she turned down. "Oh come on, you were tossing them back like water, last time..."

Hope's eyes widened in delighted shock. "Auntie Bex, you got my teacher hammered?"

"That'll do, Mitchell," Minerva grumbled stiffly, cheeks flushing.

Hope bit back a grin. She was so telling her friends this when she got back.

"I received your letter, Rebekah. And while the greatest protection you have is the spell on Hope and vampires needing her invitation, there is a spell I can do to alert you if an enemy approaches." She took out her wand and headed for the front door, opening it to step onto the porch. Holding her wand up, she took a deep breath and turned her face to the full moon that shown down. "_Cave inimicum_"

An orange wash seemed to coat itself over the immediate area, coating the home as well as the whole block. Once finished she stepped back inside.

"Luckily all of the muggles are likely enjoying their Christmas feasts right now," she said, basking in the warmth of the house. "At the very least, you'll know if someone is coming who means you harm."

"Thank you, Minerva... really." Rebekah smiled.

The witch nodded at the vampire. "Well, if that is all... I must return back to Hogwarts." She stopped and gave Hope a rare smile. "And news of what happened has reached the staff, though I don't know about the students yet who are still at the school. Professor Flitwick can't stop singing praises and I'm quite certain Professor Lupin will be most impressed when he hears... I know I was." And with that she disappeared, leaving a beaming Hope perched on the couch.

* * *

"Hi, Harry..."

Harry was irritably plowing through his lunch in the Great Hall. He still hadn't gotten over Hermione going to McGonagall. He had been the owner of the world's best broom for not even a day and due to her interference it was gone. However when Cho suddenly moved to join him at the table it seemed to make his day a bit better though his stomach gave a lurch. "Um... h-hi..."

They were quiet for a while and Harry wondered what he should do and he was surprised she couldn't hear his heart pounding loudly behind his ribs.

"Can I join you?" she asked and he jumped.

"Oh! Sure..."

She smiled and his heart skipped a bit and she sat down across from him. Harry felt his stomach twisting with worms and butterflies as he took in how pretty she was and he smiled back nervously.

"Where are your friends?" she asked, noting he was alone at the table.

"Ohh, Ron's taking a nap and I don't know where Hermione is..." _Or care._

"Say... Harry... A few days before break... Padma Patil told me something..."

Harry glanced up at her and was surprised to see that she was blushing. His heart pounded hopefully and he cleared his throat, "What's that...?"

"She told me... that she heard from some Gryffindor girls that you liked me..."

The feeling he had was akin to nearly falling off his broom. Blood and heat rushed to his cheeks and he opened and closed his mouth like a fish. "Uh... what girls told her that?"

"Her sister, Lavender Brown and Hope Mitchell."

_Damn it, Hope..._

"Oh..."

"Is it true?"

Dread and fear took over his being and he wished he were dealing with the Basilisk again than this. He forced his eyes on his plate. "Yes..."

He chanced a look at her and was surprised and relieved to see she wasn't looking disgusted or anything of the sort. In fact she had a small smile.

"I think I might like you too..."

At first the words didn't make sense to him. He understood what each word meant but the way they were worded robbed them of all coherency. Then his neurons began doing their jobs and he realized what she said. His eyes widened to their full limits and he was sure he had the dopiest grin on his face. "Really?"

She giggled quietly and nodded. Feeling elated and knowing he wasn't going to be able to concentrate on food at all. Harry had a fleeting thought in the back of his head that Hope's tarot readings as well as her teasing were going to become quite unbearable. But, as he glanced at Cho's blushing face he decided it was worth it. The issue with his Firebolt seemed not quite as bad now.

* * *

When Hope finally awoke, it was well past noon. She had spent most of her night after McGonangall left pouring through her books on anything concerning werewolves and vampires as well as Aurors. It was the first time in her life she had stayed up late studying. How did those Ravenclaws and Granger do this crap?

"Hope, get up. You said you were going to speak to your father today. He's on Skype."

That had Hope sitting upright in a second and she fell out of bed. Glancing at herself in the mirror she stuck her tongue out at her reflection. "I look like a dog's ass..." She ran a comb through her hair and quickly tossed on clothes, rushing to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She glared in horror at her reflection. Was that a zit?

Outside, Rebekah smirked as she listened to Hope crash around the bathroom. Turning to her brother who sat nervously in New Orleans behind a laptop, she smiled. "She crashes around a lot when she's nervous... I remember a certain boy who used to do that..."

"Shut up, Bekah..." Klaus said, slightly irritable. Behind him, Haley smiled, patting his shoulder.

"Trust me, it'll be fine... And wait until she gets going, she's a riot..." Now she snickered. "Pac Man machine..."

"What?" Klaus asked in confusion.

However, Haley never got the chance to elaborate. The girl in question had finally emerged. Klaus quieted as his screen was filled first with a Sailor Moon T-shirt and then a pretty brunette with Haley's hair and his eyes and mouth She looked nothing like the chubby baby he remembered.

He had trouble finding his voice for a moment and the girl seemed to be having the same issue. However, a little jolt on his shoulder from Haley brought him back to reality. "There's my littlest wolf."

She gave a smile and ducked her head shyly, "Hi, Dad..."

There was a sugary swell in his chest at hearing her call him 'Dad' for the first time. "Your mother was right, you are beautiful..."

"Thanks," she blushed. There was an awkward silence and then he asked her to tell him everything. He had already heard it all from Haley, about the attack but he wanted to hear it from her.

She told him everything and he felt swells of wrath at the vampire who had attacked her as well as a burst of pride when she described how she killed her attacker. Also, the way she described it, it seemed as if the vampire was merely interested the girl for a snack as it mainly batted Hope out of the way. However his natural paranoia wouldn't allow him to hope for that until he gathered more evidence.

"Littlest wolf has claws..." he said finally with a proud smile and then he laughed when she did the silliest superhero pose. He then grew serious. "The witch who cast the spell placed another, correct?"

"Mm-hmm, some weird shield that'll let us know if an enemy is on the block."

Elijah had informed him about the school and while he was pissed at Rebekah, upon hearing about the witch as well as what his daughter was learning, he couldn't be too angry with his sister. He was just about to ask about her school when suddenly something grey and feathery collided with the side of Hope's head.

"OW! What the- oh, it's Errol..."

Klaus and Haley exchanged confused looks as Hope picked up the most pathetic looking owl he had ever seen in his thousand years on earth. It had a letter attached to its leg. "Auntie, can you get him some water?" she asked, handing her the owl.

"How about poison, it'd be kinder..." Rebekah muttered but went off to do as she said.

Hope pulled off the letter and began to read. When Hope's eyes widened and she facepalmed Klaus arched his brows. "Hope?"

She seemed to forget he was there. "Huh?" she asked in surprise. "Oh... letter from a friend at school."

Elijah had explained about the owls, but it still seemed surreal to him. However, he glanced the other owl in the home, a handsome Horned owl whom she had named after him. His namesake was currently giving the old owl drinking from his water dish an unimpressed glare and then gave a Hope a look that clearly said "Why?"

Hope had grabbed a piece of paper from the printer and busied herself with scribbling out a letter and set it aside. "I'll send it later."

"Who is that for?" he asked.

"Friend Ginny Weasley. She wrote me yesterday but I forgot to write her back." She then launched into telling him every minute detail of her life from kindergarten to her school now. Her house and its rivalry with Slytherin, her classes and the things she learned. And she soon had him in near stitches with her descriptions of her nemeses. Haley was right, the girl was a riot. However the horse lover in him was intrigued when she told him about the hippogriffs she learned about in her Care of Magical Creatures class.

"How are you handling your full moons?" he asked her.

"Mostly I mouth off and get a detention, but nothing bad yet... I got into a bad fight and wanted to kill this girl, but Parvati yanked me off of her and I broke her nose by accident... I felt so bad."

"Just try to keep calm," Haley said from his shoulder. "Deep breaths... yoga helps."

"Really?" both Hope and Klaus asked at the same time.

"According to Aiden, it does..."

"Huh..." Hope muttered with raised brows then called over her shoulder. "Aunt Bex, can I download some yoga vids?"

"Whatever..."

Klaus wanted more than anything than to spend the rest of the day speaking with her but he had more things to investigate. Also, Haley had to get back to her wolves and Elijah to his vampires. "Hope... I, more than anything, hate to cut this short..."

"But, you got super special awesome stuff to do, I get it. It's cool..." she was clearly disappointed but she handled it well. "Besides, I've got... Netflix to catch up on..."

He gave a small smile. "Remember that we love you, Hope and we're doing everything get you to come home."

"I know. I love you too."

He gave her a last smile before signing off.

Once she shut down the computer Hope leaned back in her seat, letting out a sigh. She'd finally met her parents. Both of them. And her uncle Elijah. Honestly, as far as holidays went, minus the shields and the vampires, it was pretty awesome. She couldn't wait to tell her friends! Lavender and Padma would be so psyched for and Parvati...

Her smile dropped. She was still uncertain on where she and Parvati stood.

Sighing, she grabbed the letter that she had scribbled out and attached it to Nik's foot as Errol recuperated in his cage. As it was a day of firsts, she also told her first lie about not talking to a boy. The letter hadn't been from Ginny but Fred. She was pretty certain mentioning she had a boyfriend that was two years older than her wouldn't go well. Her mom would probably be cool about it and warn her not to do anything stupid but she got massive overprotective vibes from her father and uncle. And she liked Fred, she didn't need them breaking him.

Hope grabbed the letter he had written her and now let the touched smile tilt her lips.

_Hope,_

_I'm quite certain Hermes got to you when Ginny wrote you but you haven't replied. I'm sending Errol because Percy's being a git and not letting me use Hermes now. I'm worried sick about you though Mum saw the Patil's mum in Diagon alley yesterday and she said everything was fine. Please write back to me soon. _

_Fred._

Hope sent Nik off to deliver her response. Honestly, after the last couple of days, she couldn't wait until she headed back to school. She could really use some Fred-snuggles.

* * *

The week had passed uneventfully for Rebekah and Hope. They stayed in the house, watching anime on Netflix that Rebekah grudgingly admitted she found interesting. And after surviving her first vampire battle, Rebekah, on New Years, had allowed Hope one shot of liquor. "Don't tell your parents. Or Elijah... mainly Elijah..." And when the day arrived that she was heading back to Hogwarts, she could hardly wait. She had woken up bright and early, bags already packed the night before.

When she arrived at King's Cross and stood on platform 9 ¾ she was suddenly bombarded by Seamus and Dean.

"Hope, I heard what happened on Christmas! Lavender told me. A vampire? You have to tell us everything!" Seamus was nearly falling over himself and it was a true testament to how much he wanted to know if he wasn't blushing like an idiot around her aunt.

"Half of Ravenclaw already knows," Dean told her. "Some girl, Marietta Edgecomb whose mum works at the Ministry was telling a bunch of forth years."

"Ugh..." she rolled her eyes and busied herself with loading up. "Have you seen Parvati or Padma?"

"Not yet."

"Hope, best you get on the train," Rebekah said and it was clear she was eager to get her off to school where she would be protected.

"Right." She gave her aunt a hug and quickly boarded the train.

She managed to find an empty compartment and curled up there, wrapping up in her cloak. She pulled out one of the many new books that Rebekah had gotten her and got cozy.

"Hope?"

Hope looked up to see Parvati holding a wrapped box. She edged into the compartment and sat across from her, an uneasy look on her face as if she still didn't know how to speak to her.

"Hey... Where's Padma?"

"With Cedric. She's going to come back here soon... Mum and Dad wanted me to give you this. They bought it for you last minute for Christmas."

Hope opened it and was pleasantly surprised when she saw it was a pale blue sweater, complete with a gold necklace with blue stones. "Oh wow... I should get off the train to thank-" but the train started moving. She looked out the window and waved goodbye to Rebekah and when she spotted Parvati's parents who were waving at her as well, waved extra hard, holding up the necklace and shirt happily. Once they were gone from view and left with no distractions, Hope turned to Parvati who was giving her a scrutinizing look.

"Hope..." the girl began "I didn't tell anyone, not my parents or Padma or Lavender. So, tell me... What happened that day?"

Hope opened her mouth to tell her but was interrupted when their door opened and there, of course, stood Pansy.

"Heard about your vampire attack... I'm surprised you're not trying to hang yourself after the dementors..."

Hope flared and bolted to her feet. "Yeah, I really didn't like having your Mom attacking my friend..."

Pansy flared up, stepping into her face. "Don't talk about my mother!"

"Get the Hell out my compartment then, bitch. No pug zone. Paper trained dogs only." She then slammed the door as Pansy stalked off. She sat back down but the door opened to reveal Lavender, Padma and Cedric. She also noticed a lot of people were gawking at her as they passed her compartment. Jesus Christ, was this what it felt like to be Harry?

"Hey! You got Mum's present," Padma said as she took a seat next to her.

"Dad told me about the attack, I'm glad you're all right," Cedric said kindly.

"I had to write him to tell him I wasn't with you when it happened," Padma said with a happy flush. "He took the Floo to my house once I got back..."

Hope wanted nothing ore than to ask an inappropriate question but refrained from doing so. She glanced at Lavender who looked as if she was either bursting to tell a secret or wanted info. Probably both. Padma, it seemed, was feeling the same way.

"Cedric... can you get us some chocolate frogs?" she asked, fluttering her lashes and handing him some money.

He smiled, gave her a goodbye kiss and went to find the trolly. Once he was gone, Hope leaned forward. "What happened? He took the Floo network to your house... and?" she asked, happy for a bit of normal.

Padma flushed and buried her face in her knees. "Things... went a bit far..."

"How far?" Hope asked, nearly falling off the edge of her seat.

"Not that far... just... about as far as you and Fred... but..." she took a quick peak around then leaned forward to whisper to her but the group could hear. "Has Fred ever put his mouth on your boobs...?"

Lavender squealed, Parvati just shook her head and Hope's mouth fell open and she gave Padma an incredulous smile "No..."

Padma collapsed into her seat. "Oh my God... it was rather incredible..."

However they couldn't finish the conversation as Cedric had just returned and was followed closely by Fred. Hope got to her feet and threw herself in his arms. "Hey, I miss-" she was cut off by his lips claiming hers and his hands slipping into her hair.

"I missed you too," he said after pulling away to let her brain right itself. "So... that charm I taught you came in handy, did it?"

"Mm-hmm," she gave him another kiss on the lips.

That's when George, Lee, Ginny and Colin all filed in.

"You have to tell us what happened!" Colin exclaimed, "Ginny just told me."

"Did it bite you?"

"Did you stake it?"

Hope sighed and gave Fred a pained smile. "Rain check on the smoochies...?"

* * *

Harry was sitting by the fire in the common room when most of Gryffindor house came filing in, back from the holidays. While he was still upset with Hermione and about his Firebolt, considering he had spent most of his break eating lunch with Cho (as long as he found a way to avoid Ron who had the worst habit of saying tactless things) he was feeling rather good. However, once Wood had come up demanding to know if he figured out his dementor problem as well as ordered a new broom, his stomach knotted unpleasantly. He informed him that he would be getting lessons in how to best handle the dementors. Ron had told him that he received a Firebolt and when they told him McGonangall was going to have it stripped down, Wood looked as if he were going to have a seizure rushed off to find their Head of House.

"What's his damage? Something about a Firebolt..."

Harry looked up to see Hope, staring after Wood when he almost knocked her over.

"Harry got one for Christmas," Ron told her then shot an angry glare at Hermione who had come into the common room "but _she _got it confiscated by McGonagall."

Hope's eyes widened and and she let out a humorless chuckle. "Wow, so that's why you can't have nice things."

Hermione glared at her and looked as if she were going to say something but thought better of it and stormed out through the portrait hole. Harry shook his head and turned back to Hope. "How was your Christmas?"

"She killed a vampire! Didn't you hear?" Colin exclaimed, popping out of nowhere.

Harry and Ron's mouth dropped and Hope let out a sigh as if she were getting sick of everyone talking about it but she gave him an affirming nod and a shrug. However, a bunch of people, those who hadn't heard the story, crowded around her.

"What happened?!"

"Were you bit?"

"How did this go?"

She made a noise like an angry cat but indulged the group in the tale. She humbly told them of her walk with Parvati, and how she wouldn't have even been able to do anything if Fred hadn't taught her banishing and summoning.

"Oh, stop it! I'm blushing!" Fred swooned.

Hope rolled her eyes and continued, going into a fascinating tale of how she beat the vampire in the back with garbage before it had the chance to bite Parvati, she tried to summon a stake but it didn't work. However, the clouds parted and the sun came out, causing it to hide beneath the awning and she blasted it away, frying the vampire. She then told them of her meeting with a Ministry official and how their warnings were cleared.

"And, if you'll excuse me... I'm going to put my stuff away, change into my bum gear and pass out." She said over the moans of disappointment from people who wanted to the hear the story again.

* * *

"So... we're alone... Tell me what happened."

Hope sighed as she entered the dorms. Parvati was sitting on her bed, legs and arms crossed. After the girl had lied for her, not only to her friends and the student body, but also to her family, school faculty and Ministry of Magic itself, she deserved the full truth.

"Okay... long version or short version?" Hope asked as she sat on the bed with her.

"Short version first."

"My blood has super, special, awesome healing powers."

Parvati gave Hope an unimpressed look. "That, I gathered... How? What are you?"

Now Hope let out a longer sigh. "Promise not to freak out?"

Parvati gave a small nod and Hope braced herself. "I'm kind of... a werewolf..."

The girl gasped and scuttled back from Hope as if she were diseased and Hope felt her temper flare up. "What the shit!? I said don't freak out! I'm not contagious."

Parvati's face was a wash of disbelief. "But... there've been a lot of full moons this year... I haven't seen you change. Who bit you? And what do you mean not contagious?"

"I wasn't bitten... I was born this way... My parents are werewolves but my dad's a witch's son. Remember how I asked about cursed wolves in class and Snape shot me down?" Parvati nodded, eyes growing wider. "I'm one... its hereditary... and not contagious."

"But Snape said they were extinct..."

"Snape's an idiot. Plus, they keep hidden mostly... Vampires killed off most of them. And they have advanced healing, unlike bitten werewolves... And the reason I don't change is because I haven't triggered the curse."

"What triggers it?" Parvati asked in a shocked whisper.

Now Hope closed her eyes and swallowed. "I have to kill someone."

"But you killed that vampire!"

"I have to kill a living person... and it can either be on purpose or by accident... I found this out when you guys left. Aunt Bex told me."

"Is she a wolf?"

"No... her, Uncle Elijah and dad are half siblings." She didn't know if she should tell her that they were the Original Vampires. That would open a whole new can of worms she just wasn't ready to deal with.

Parvati just gaped at her, silently taking in what she was told. Hope sat nervously on the bed, willing her to say something. "So... wait," she said finally. "Did that vampire attack me because it was after you?"

Hope blinked at that then shook her head. "I don't think vamps drink wolves... it went after you because it was hungry." But was that the case. Did it go after her friend because it was after her? She wished her family would get back to her.

"So... is that the reason you're so... cranky?"

"Aka bitchy as fuck?" Hope asked and was relieved when Parvati managed a small smile.

"That too."

"Pretty much... It gets really bad around the full moon... chocolate helps, weirdly enough."

"We're buying you a shitload..."

Hope's eyes widened. "Parvati! You said the S-word!"

Now the girl fully smiled. "I guess some parts of you are contagious..."

"Ass!" Hope laughed, throwing a pillow at her.

"So... I guess it's a good thing I tried to yank you off Pansy that day..."

"Oh yeah..."

"Stick to pimple jinxes from now on..."

"Mm-hmm."

They were silent again until Hope voiced the question that had been haunting her since she had fed her blood. "Do you think I'm a freak?"

Parvati was silent then said in complete seriousness, "Of course I do..." and was unaffected by Hope's broken gasp and continued "I have for the past two and a half years. I mean, have you met you? I thought you were a freak that first day on the train. Now, do think you're a horrible monster? You'd have to steal my sister's boyfriend and make an Ivy recording of it."

Now Hope rolled her eyes, but inwardly bursting with happiness that her friend was her friend again. "It's called a _Vine video!"_

"Whatever!"


	14. Tarot Card Meanings Insert

**One of my dear reviewers, ****XxXLuvTheOriginalsXxX, requested a chapter insert with the card meanings, so my dear, this is for you! :) Now, in Tarot there are 78 cards in a deck. 22 Major Arcana and 56 minor arcana that are similar to playing cards. Honestly, playing cards were derived from tarot but that's a story for another day. They also have astrological correspondents as well. I'll be posting those as well as the reversed and regular meanings. Rv will mean reversed. A note about court cards (pages, knights, queens and kings) they can either mean people, or situations. Actually all of them can, however its more likely with court cards.  
**

** For picture references, the deck Hope uses is the Gateway to the Divine Tarot Deck by Ciro Marchetti. Anyone thinking of starting tarot, I highly recommend that deck. The images are beautiful. I want to be that artist when I grow up.  
**

Major Arcana

Fool-Uranus- New beginnings, innocence, new experiences, carefree. Rv: Naive, foolish, hesitant, dumbass. The 0 for the Fool means the beginning as well as a circle as once we get to The World, we go back around to the Fool

Magician-Mercury-manifestation, brilliance, creativity, success, Rv: Trickster, someone who doesn't know what they're doing

High Priestess-Moon-Inner knowledge, secrets,-feminine mysteries, reflection, a mysterious person. Rv: Shallow, shortsightedness, manipulative, poser (Trelawney)

Empress-Venus-Creation, motherhood, perfect woman, material abundance, mother Rv: lazy, smother-mother, materialistic, status seeking, manipulative woman, Mommie Dearest (AFTER ALL I'VE DONE FOR YOU!) guilt trips

Emperor-Aries- reason, control, masculinity, authority figure, father figure Rv: Dictator, harsh, misused power, petty, abusive tendencies.

Hierophant (or High Priest)-Taurus-establishments, organizations, higher learning, society norms, Rv: inventive, anarchist, free spirit, (Think Davina telling her coven to shove it) (We don't need your education, we don't need your thought control)

Lovers-Gemini-Divine union, balance, romance, choices, harmony Rv: Infidelity, fatal attraction, interference, dissolving of a relationship

Chariot-Cancer-movement, destiny, victory, Rv: bad luck, pause, failure, difficult change

Strength-Leo-gentle strength, power, vitality, control over animal instincts, Rv: conceited,

weakness, prejuidice

Hermit-Virgo-analytical, searching, solitude, solitary figure with knowledge, introspection Rv: Fear, withdrawn, paranoid, know-it-all

Wheel of Fortune (or just the Wheel)-Jupiter-good luck, turn of fortune, continuing of a cycle, self-realization, karma Rv: bad luck, being stuck, minor setbecks, not wanting to move forward.

Justice-Libra-Fairness, balance, cause and effect, equality (when paired with judgment can mean court cases and legal issues) Rv: unfairness, prejudice, indecision, corruptions

Hanged Man-Neptune-biding time, voluntary inaction, suspension, renunciation, pause, sacrifice Rv: martydom, a why me complex, forced sacrifice, overcoming, coming out of inertia

Death-Scorpio- Letting go, transformation, inevitable ending, death of old self so something new can take place, huge change, hard change Rv: Grief, decay, refusing to let go of harmful things and habits, stagnation

Temperance-Sagittarius-Tempering, moderation, compatibility, refinement, blending of opposites, healing, flow Rv:Revelry, debauchery, too much or not enough, scattered, lack of cooperation

Devil-Capricorn-Obsession, addictions, materialistic, putting yourself before others, looking out for number one, arrogance, controlling person, indulgence, ambitions, determination(can also mean REALLY HOT sex) physical relationship, Rv: being controlled, breaking from control, breaking addictions

Tower-Mars-Upheaval, calamity, conflict, downfall, shattered illusion, inevitable change, slap in the face, getting kicked out the comfort zone Rv:reconstruction, refusal to accept changes, not wanting to leave a crippling situation

Star-Aquarius- hope, inspiration, innovation, ideals, self-discovery, revelation, spiritual gifts, lime light, liberation, healing, friendship- R: pessimism, hopelessness, haughty, arrogant, loss of friendship, illness, procrastination, doubt, stubborn

Moon-Pisces-unknown, instinctive energy, secret and hidden fears, lunar, foreboding, Rv: Deceptive, fears, lies, lying to yourself, paranoia,

Sun-Sun-Success, happiness, joy, wealth, glory, gain, Rv: minor setbacks, arrogance, ego, failure, loss, wrath

Judgment-Pluto-Wake up call, realization, awakening, absolution, judging, rv: uneasiness, not wanting to hear what others are saying, not heeding the call

World-Saturn-success, completion, accomplishment, fulfillment, evolution, world shaking events. Rv:stressed, goals not met, delay

Minor Arcana

Wands= Fire: Inspiration, action, passion

Ace of Wands-Summer-Initial impulse and inspiration, vibrant energy, spark of passion, action, Rv: Delays, unmotivated,

Two of Wands- Mars in Aries-Window of opportunity, choices, setting things in motion, negotiation, vision, Rv: Restless, indecision, obstinate

Three of Wands-Sun in Aries-Effort, waiting for ship to come in, you put in the work, now you're waiting for rewards, power-Rv: creative block, daydreams, conceit, being overly sure of yourself, ulterior motives

Four of Wands-Venus in Aries-Party, happiness, gathering, group of friends, marriage, celebration. Rv: Tarnished beauty, lack in pleasure, partying too much, noncommittal relationships

Five of Wands-Saturn in Leo-Ambition, arguments, competition, dangerous games, clash of wills Rv: violence, cruelty, anger but unable to express it, spoiling for a fight

Six of Wands-Jupiter in Leo-Victory, success, desires fulfilled, personal victory Rv: arrogance, loss, overbearing pride, shallow victory

Seven of Wands-Mars I Leo- Opposition, courage, persistence, zeal, standing your ground, Rv: Feeling threatened, backing down, vulnerability

Eight of Wands-Mercury in Sagittarius- movement, confidence, forward motion, things moving quickly, boldness Rv: things moving too fast, not lasting, hasty communication,

Nine of Wands-Moon in Sagittarius- Refusing to give up when things seem against you, great strength, final battle, discipline, sense of purpose, facing challenges ahead Rv: giving up, being unprepared, weakness of character

Ten of Wands-Saturn in Sagittarius- Taking on more than you can handle, strong opposition, feeling over extended and overworked, bearing burdens, Rv letting burdens drop, difficulties, dropping burdens that aren't your own

Page of Wands-Summer- Impulsive, a vibrant young girl, outspoken, exuberant, winning, messages of new ideas and adventure. Rv: Flighty, scattered, angry words, over reactive, rash

Knight of Wands-last 3rd of Scorpio through first 2/3 of Sagittarius (Death/Temperance)-Noble, strong, bravery, passionate, vitality, generous, a vibrant young man, charisma, energy and enthusiasm. Attractive, sexy, a natural leader. Rv: Pushy, douchebag, indecisive (that guy you regret going home with after too much booze) inconsistent, bored, prone to exaggeration, tactless, vengeful, jealous

Queen of Wands-last 3rd of Pisces through first 2/3 of Aries (Moon/Emperor) Commanding, enterprising, a vibrant, sexy woman, authority, optimistic, compassionate, gentle, creative, individualistic, independence. Rv: pretender, judgmental, domineering, inconsiderate, lethargic, deceptive, promiscuous, status seeker, gold digger

King of Wands-last 3rd of Cancer through first 2/3 of Leo (Chariot/Strength)-Intense, leadership, headstrong, self-assertive, impulsive, supportive, protective, A charismatic and influential man with nurturing qualities. A confident man. Rv: Power hungry, temperamental, impatient, selfish. A show off, an insecure asshole,

Cups=Water, Emotions, Intuition, feelings

Ace of Cups-Fall-Beauty, happiness, joy, richness of feelings, a new relationship on the rise, intuition, subconscious, friendship Rv: unhappiness, unstable desires, selfishness

Two of Cups-Venus in Cancer-nurturing relationship, committed relationships either romantic or platonic, good rapport, kindred spirits, emotional compatibility, attachment Rv: holding back, false love, emotional withdrawal, breakup, separations

Three of Cups-Mercury in Cancer-pleasure, fun, parties, drinking, weddings, group of friends, entertainment, Rv: love triangle, excess partying, overindulge, alcoholism, friends breaking apart

Four of Cups-Moon in Cancer-boredom, dissatisfaction, discontent, ennui, missed opportunity, Rv: Enthusiasm, motivation, seizing opportunity.

Five of Cups-Mars in Scorpio- Sorrow, loss, remorse, regret, need to pay attention to what you have instead of what you lost, disappointment Rv: return of hope, recovery, acceptance of the past

Six of Cups-Sun in Scorpio- Happiness, nostalgia, longing, childhood memories, something from the past coming back. Rv: thankless, living in the past

Seven of Cups-Venus in Scorpio-Many too many choices (especially in the romance department), illusions, rose-colored glasses, confusion Rv: Decisiveness, realism, good choices, time for action, shattered illusions.

Eight of Cups-Saturn in Pisces- moving on from something that doesn't serve, diminished feelings, moving on to the next stage. Rv: refusing to move on, wrong decision, clinging to the past, abandoning a good relationship.

Nine of Cups-Jupiter in Pisces- success in everything, getting what you wish, joy, material comfort, contentment. Rv: not getting your wish, waiting, wishes delayed, conceited, vain.

Ten of Cups-Mars in Pisces-Harmony in personal relationships, tranquility, family, trust, happiness, Rv: betrayal, jilted, unrequited love, family fights, arguments,

Page of Cups-Fall-Sweetness, artistic, gentle, kind, dreamy, messages of an emotional nature like a wedding invite or news of a baby coming, children, an artistic and emotional young girl, love letters, party invites, romance. Rv: whiny, melancholy, overly emotional, bad news, delayed news, moody, an emotional girl.

Knight of Cups-last 3rd of Aquarius through first 2/3 of Pisces (Star/Moon) Introspective, artistic young man, a lover not a fighter, charming, flirt, good listener, emotionally warm, psychic, a sensitive young man: Rv: Charming but manipulative, love em and leave em, man slut, pretender, superficial, indifferent, deceptive.

Queen of Cups-last 3rd of Gemini through first 2/3s of Cancer (Lovers/Chariot) Caring, nuturing, psychic abilities, big heart, sensitive woman, empathetic woman, charming, supportive. Rv: emotionally manipulative, co-dependent, false friend, smiles in your face then back stabs, an indulgent woman prone to drinking.

King of Cups-last 3rd of Libra through first 2/3 of Scorpio (Justice/Death)- Unconditional love, a sensitive, caring man, nurturing, reliable, perfect husband material, home loving, considerate, diplomatic, protective. Rv: Smothering man, needy, clingy, drinking issues, jealous, hides emotions, that cry baby drunk ruining the party for everyone.

Swords=Air, thoughts, communication, intellect

Ace of Swords-Winter- Mental sharpness, idea, truth, Rv: sharp words, slander, unnecessary conflict

Two of Swords-Moon in Libra- Over thinking, guarding yourself with logic, no easy solution exists, being impartial, not certain of what to do. Rv: duplicity, unable, unwilling, falsehoods, movements, making a choice.

Three of Swords-Saturn in Libra-Heartbreak, tears, breakup, cheating, love triangle, worries, separation, intense pain, emotional suffering, sorrow, Rv: Deep sympathy, moving on,

Four of Swords-Jupiter in Libra-Rest after a difficult time, distance is needed, inactivity, healing Rv: action, ready to resume movement, freedom of anxiety.

Five of Swords-Venus in Aquarius- Defeat, loss, failure, empty victory, shameless, opportunist, infamy, greed. Rv: Vindication, restoration, forgiveness.

Six of Swords-Mercury in Aquarius- Moving away from drama, moving on, movement, Rv: No immediate solution, sticking around whe its a better idea to tuck tail.

Seven of Swords-Moon in Aquarius-confidence betrayed, a thief, stealing ideas, stealth is needed, hidden motives. Rv: learning to trust, overcoming trickery, regain, return

Eight of Swords-Jupiter in Gemini-Feeling stuck, ignorant, fear, blocks, self imposed restriction, severe limitation, jail. Rv: seeing whats really going on, breaking free, prison break

Nine of Swords-Mars in Gemini-Loss, suffering, doubt, worrying, pain, insomnia, nightmares, paranoia. Rv: Hope, release, no worries

Ten of Swords-Sun in Gemini-Complete and utter failure. Downfall, ruin, full defeat. Back stabbed. Its over! Rv: Nowhere to go but up, Total martyr. (I'm fine, don't worry about me! I'll just lie here while you have fun! Wah!) recovery, inner strength.

Page of Swords-Winter-A talkative young girl, always says the truth whether you want to hear or not, forceful commincation, declaring, messages of what others are saying about you, sharp tongued, messages of challenges, growth and opportunity in the shape of a problem, facing facts. Rv: lies, gossip, wasteful, stubborn, rebellious. A shit talker.

Knight of Swords-last 3rd of Taurus through first 2/3 of Gemini (Hierophant/Lovers)- Knight in Shining Armor, sharp mind, swift action, that guy who sweeps you off your feet, acts forcefully on beliefs, idealistic, strategical. Rv: Fickle, swept you off your feet and left you on your ass, draining to others, self-indulgent, pushy, aggressive, intellectual know it all, shit starter, deceitful, troublemaker.

Queen of Swords-last 3rd of Virgo through the first 2/3s of Libra. (Hermit/Justice) Sharp mind, sharp tongue, sarcastic, sharp intellect, dominating woman, a woman who tends to put some guys off because she's so direct. Fair, independent, perceptive, accurate, just, rationality. Rv: Gossip, total bitch queen of the fucking universe. Bitter, malicious, browbeating, demanding, cruel, cold, sly, unforgiving.

King of Swords-last 3rd of Capricorn through first 2/3 of Aquarius (Devil/Star) Fair, just, expert, stern, humanistic, needs of the many outweigh needs of the few, a knowledgeable man, doesn't pull punches when speaking. Rv: stern, strict, cruel, mistrusting, the vice principal you wanted to slap for recreational purposes. Vengeful, unyielding, calculating

Pentacles (or Coins) Earth, material, health, wealth, the physical.

Ace of Pentacles -Spring-Investment of a venture, start of something new, money, abundance, fruitful, something coming into fruition, bright prospects, new job. Rv: timing is off, misused wealth, false start

Two of Pentacles-Jupiter in Capricorn-Fluctuation, balancing two responsibilities, juggling work and play, juggling two (or more lovers) Rv:Greed, extravagance, being overwhelmed, somethings got to give, weighing alternatives.

Three of Pentacles-Mars in Capricorn-Success, hard work, crafting, productivity, pride in one's work, cleverness, skilled labor, constructive force, Rv: selfish, bored at work, lay, hypercritical, loosen up.

Four of Pentacles-Sun in Capricorn-Material prosperity, holding on to your money, saving your hard earned money, guarding yourself, being closed off Rv: miser, Uncle Scrooge, fear of opening up, suspicious.

Five of Pentacles-Mercury in Taurus-Worry, strain, feeling out in the cold, loss of money or job, troubles, health issues, feeling abandoned. Rv: things turn around, revived prosperity, successful budgeting.

Six of Pentacles-Moon in Taurus- Benefactor, giving and taking, good karma with money, charity, gifts, grant of money. Rv: stingy, jealousy, need to pay back but don't want to, strings attached.

Seven of Pentacles-Saturn in Taurus-Fruits of labor, evaluating, taking stock of your work, reap what you sow, biding time, patience. Rv: Bad investment, expensive, anxiety, impatience, unprofitable,

Eight of Pentacles-Sun in Virgo- Training, learning, intelligence, commissioned work, cunning, practice makes perfect, study. Rv: Overly careful, shoddy workmanship, voided ambition.

Nine of Pentacles-Venus in Virgo-Big increase in money, material gain, physical beauty, a friends with benefits situation, comfort Rv: Theft, unsatisfied, materialistic, superficial.

Ten of Pentacles-Mercury in Virgo-Riches, wealth, inheritance, community, family, stable home, legacy, tight knit family or friends. Rv: Sloth, conflict of loyalties, loss, insecuirty.

Page of Pentacles-Spring-Brings messages about luck, money and resources. Generous, a good student, careful, preserving, a studious young woman, curious, reflective. Rv: poor student, self-critical, not knowing what you're doing, pitiful, wasteful.

Knight of Pentacles-last 3rd of Leo through the first 2/3 of Virgo (Strength/Hermit) Responsible, reliable, plodding, hard worker, helpful. A dependable, hard working young man, diligent, alert. Rv: boring, boring, boring, miserly, cheap, jealous, coward, unprogressive, stubborn, set in their ways, impatient, dull, lazy asshole.

Queen of Pentacles-last 3rd of Sagittarius through first 2/3 of Capricorn (Temperance/Devil) Deliberate, charming, kind, truthful, pragmatic, productive, honest, self-satisfied, a sensual, earthy woman who is at home with herself, welcoming, practical. A woman with a good head for business. Earth mother. Rv: Indulgent, lazy, gold digger, status seeker, ruthless, insecure, manipulative.

King of Pentacles- last 3rd of Aries through first 2/3 of Taurus (Emperor/Hierophant) Friendly, responsible man, unassuming man who is charming and yet has a real bearing. A man with money and status. A man dedicated to his morals, patient, purposeful, steadfast, successful, sufficient resources. Rv: Heavy, dull, indulgent, wasteful, cheap, grapsing, jealous, disorganized, possessive, corrupt, lazy, materialistic, a domineering asshole.


	15. Chapter 15

**Warnings: Citrus and lime, also some mentions of peer pressure and general teenage stupidity (they're teenagers ergo, they're kind of dumb)**

Classes had resumed the next day after everyone's return from the Christmas Holidays. And of course, in the grand tradition of Hogwarts gossip, Hope was once again the subject of excited whispers once she emerged for breakfast. As she made her way to the Gyrffindor table, people began excitedly whispering.

"I heard she took on a vampire!"

"Where?"

"Over holidays... Marietta told me all about it..."'

Hope took her normal seat next Parvati, who was also the subject of much attention as it was she who was attacked. The black haired girl seemed to be enjoying it immensely, especially when a group of people moved from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables to question them on the attack. A number of boys also moved to the girls, prompting Fred to quickly wrap his arm around Hope's shoulder and pull her close. However, this proved to be more of a source of irritation than anything else.

"What I want to now is how you managed to kill a vampire?" a haughty Hufflepuff boy asked, eyes narrowed at Hope skeptically. "The sun was out that day, wasn't it? Also, why didn't it bite _her?" _he asked with a nod at Parvati. "It doesn't seem likely that you were fast enough-"

"Zacharias... don't pester her..." Cedric said from Padma's side.

"I'm not pestering her," the boy insisted "it just doesn't make sense to me that-"

Hope flared and was about to rip into the boy, but was stopped by the hand Parvati placed on her shoulder to calm her before she, Parvati, turned the boy with a withering glare.

"I bet what doesn't make sense to you could fill up a canyon, piss off!" Parvati hissed.

The boy turned away, face red with anger, but stomped back to his house table. Hope just stared in shock at the girl then turned to Fred. "Sweetie, it's over. I'm leaving you for her."

"I'm all right with that," the older boy grinned.

Parvati rolled her eyes and resumed telling her side of the story, and always made sure to omit that she was actually bitten. She always stated that she was nearly bitten but Hope was really quick with her wand.

"How were you so fast?" a wide eyed first year girl asked Hope.

"Ehh... lots of sports and stuff growing up..." she answered and was releaved when the bell rang, signalling that they all head to their first class. She rushed out before anyone could ask her anything else.

It turned out the teachers all heard of what happened. During Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid, after starting a giant bonfire with salamanders to keep them warm during the cold morning, wanted her and Parvati to tell the story around the fire. To the girls imense delight, Pansy and her Slyterin girls looked highly irritated at all of the attention placed on Hope and Parvati. That fact alone made them tell the tale with more gusto than they had during breakfast. Hope noticed Pansy whispering conspiratorily with the girls but barely paid any mind.

However, during Divination, Professor Trelawney of course had to make a giant spectacle. And what was worse was Parvati went along with it, though considering she was keeping quiet, Hope let her have her idiocy.

"My dear, I saw foresaw it the day before you left, however I was hoping against hope that the Eye was wrong in this case. However, it also showed me you Parvati, would survive and Hope would be successful and victorious... but then, it is not you who has..." a pause and loud sniffle as well as a sad look at Harry "The Grim!"

Parvati and Lavender both let out loud gasps. Hope fought the urge to roll her eyes and shot an apologetic look to Harry who just shrugged, already used to it. However, she could tell the boy was clearly irritated when they began palmistry and the teacher told him he had the shortest life line she had ever seen.

Once class was over and she had left the tower to head to lunch, she ran into tiny Professor Flitwick who had to run to keep up with their longer strides.

"Miss Mitchell! I heard about the excellent summoning charm you used over the weekend against that vampire! Ten points to Gryffindor!" he exclaimed and what made it great was that Pansy was just exiting his class and she stormed off in a huff.

During Transfiguration, McGonagall gave Hope ten points for her sheer bravery and luck.

During Potions, however, was when things went sour. It seemed while Snape had stopped picking on Hope in class for the most part, he was prone to doing so in vague ways usually indirectly but directly at Harry. The boy in questions was having a conversation with Ron, looking a bit surly though considering the glares the redheaded boy threw at Hermione who kept her head down, Hope figured it had something to do with the Firebolt.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, two points each for talking during class. Mr. Potter just because you are not the center of attention for once, I would advise you to... what's the term? Ah, yes. Get over it."

"Hey, Potter! Are you going to throw yourself in front of a dementor again just you can feel important?" Malfoy whispered to the seething boy once Snape turned his back. "Maybe Mitchell can save you next!"

"Oh please, she'll just start cutting herself up again..." Pansy huffed. "I bet she tossed the vampire off Patil because she wanted it to kill her, but it wouldn't. I guess it doesn't like the taste of slut in the morning."

Hope bristled and whirled in her seat though Parvati placed a hand on her shoulder again. "Hope, calm down... She's not even worth it..."

The girl bit the insides of her cheeks but crossed her legs and arms in an attempt to not flip out on Pansy. Luckily, Pansy at that point decided to pester her boyfriend. "Draco, you promised you would visit me over the holidays and you didn't..."

"Sorry, I thought I sent you an owl telling you I wouldn't be able to make it..."

"I never got an owl..."

"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Parkinson, save it for later..." Snape said from his desk.

Hope and Parvati exchanged amused glances. Not only was Pansy pissed at all of the attention Gryffindor was getting but she was also getting ignored by her boyfriend. Life was good!

During Defense of Against the Dark Arts, the first thing Lupin did upon entering the class was give Hope and Parvati fifteen points each for facing off against the vampire.

"But, I didn't even do anything!" Parvati protested.

"You survived, Parvati," Lupin told her seriously. "And against a vampire that is no small feat."

The lesson continued as usual though Parvati was flushing with pleasure while people gave her pats on the back. However, Hope found she couldn't really concentrate. Her mind kept drifting back to her conversation with the girl last night. Did the vampires come after Parvati because they were really after her? She would be sure to write to her aunt to get some form of info on the matter.

It stayed on her mind all throughout dinner as well as other inopportune moments. While she didn't have any other classes that day, she was engaged in something it was rather bad form to be distracted during.

"Okay, am I doing it wrong?"

"Huh?" Hope turned her head to the agitated voice of Fred. She then flushed with embarrassment when she realized she had let her mind wander while his mouth was on her neck and his hand was massaging her breast. "Oh... uh..."

Ego clearly bruised the boy huffed and sat up. They had decided to miss dinner so he could finally have some time alone with her and so she could have a break from all of the questioning. This of course led to a lengthy makeout session. However, the moment her lips weren't occupied she had gone slack beneath his attentions.

"I think I'll go get dinner..." he grunted out, miffed.

"Fred, wait..." Hope grabbed his hand and pulled him back onto the bed. "I'm sorry... I'm just... I'm just worried about some stuff..."

His expression went from annoyed to concerned. "What are you worried about?"

Now Hope froze, at a loss of how to explain it. If she told him what she was worried about, then she would have to explain about her being a wolf. And she just wasn't ready to tell him that yet. Plus, she didn't want to worry him since he was already freaked out enough over the dementors and the vampire.

"Eh... mostly some stuff at home..." she said lamely. It wasn't really a lie. "I'm not ready to talk about it yet..."

Fred pulled her into a gentle hug. "Well, I'll be ready to listen whenever you want to talk about it." Hope smiled against his chest then squeaked when she felt him take the shell of her ear into his mouth. "But... in the mean time, how about I try to make you forget about it since there's really no point in worrying about it until summer..."

Hope's eyes drifted shut dreamily as his lips moved from her ear to her neck. "Mmm... oh... yeah... that sounds like a plan..."

Fred chuckled against her skin and eased her onto her back, nibbling up to her jawline and giving her a deep, thorough kiss. Hope squealed against his lips and slid her fingers through his hair. His mouth then moved from her mouth to her ear.

"Still have a lot on your mind?" he asked teasingly. "Because, I could tell you that Flitwick gave me ten points for teaching you those charms..."

"That's great..." she said breathlessly "now please stop talking..."

Fred laughed at that and returned his mouth to her lips, plunging his tongue into her mouth. Hope groaned against him and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him on top of her. His hand slid up her waist, back to her breast, squeezing her through her uniform. Hope shivered at the touch, then remembered what Padma had said yesterday on the train about what Cedric had done. Fred had yet to do anything like that. While they had gotten pretty hot and heavy in that room, it was all over the clothes. If she were honest with herself, she was a bit put out that Padma had gotten that far with her boyfriend and they weren't even together as long.

Hope pulled back a bit and moved her lips from his mouth to his neck, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the first few buttons of his Oxford shirt, running her tongue over the skin. Fred sighed then groaned when she bit his neck, gripping her harder. His hands then slipped under her shirt, thumbs rubbing slow circles over her waist that left her shivering but that wasn't what she wanted. Gripping his wrists, she pushed them further up her body towards her breasts, gasping when his fingertips touched the edge of her bra.

Fred wasted no time and slid his hand over the cups, tracing the tops of her breasts lightly beneath her shirt. Hope sighed against his throat at the touch then gasped when he pulled the bra down and covered her flesh with his large, warm hands. He pulled back to look at her and Hope shivered at the intensity of his gaze as well as the feel of his hands on her in such a way and then gasped when he was suddenly kissing her again.

That's when three hard knocks came down on them like a bucket of ice water and George's voice filtered inside.

"Fred! It's me, George sing-songed. "I don't know what you're doing in there but Wood's this close to breaking down the door since we have practice tonight, as in right now!"

"Son of a cock-blocking-" Fred growled, burying his face into Hope's shoulder and then looked down at the girl. "I'm sorry..."

Hope let out a whining noise straightened her clothing to look presentable as Fred just got out of bed, huffing. She stepped into her shoes and made her way to the door but stopped when he caught her shoulder. She squeaked when he spun her around and backed her into the wall, giving her a deep, slow, passionate kiss that she felt all the way to her toes. She wanted nothing more than to smack Wood for interrupting them and George for good measure.

"Hit Wood with a Bludger, please?" she said breathlessly.

"Count on it, Fluffy."

Her brow pinched in confusion. "Fluffy?"

"The vampire hunter girl from that muggle story you told me about," he said as he held the door open for her.

Now she giggled and pointedly ignored George's teasing smirk as she made her way back to her own dorm. "That's _Buffy!"_

* * *

The next few days of the week back passed without much drama though she was still the talk of the school. Somehow the story evolved to Hope doing a flying leap from a building and landing on top of the vampire before doing a charm that disentigrated her. A few pervy boys concocted a story that Parvati was so grateful that she kissed her in the alley after Hope killed the vampire, much to Parvati's mortification and Hope's amusement. (And Fred snatching Hope to his side and giving Parvati fake glares didn't help the situation.) Of course there were the idiots who had to make things as irritating for the duo as possible. Slytherin being the main ones, as well as Zacharias Smith who would mutter that he didn't believe that Hope really had killed a vampire only for Fred and George to threaten him with jinxes and Parvati to huff scathing comments at him that had his mouth dropping along with Hope's. (She really was a bad influence on the girl.) Though this mainly happened during meal times.

Another thing she noted at meal times was that Harry was now sitting with Cho Chang at lunch. Hope had much fun physically teasing him when Cho had her back turned, doing the cabbage patch dance as a victory dance in his honor while he flushed bright red. Cho had turned to look but Fred and Parvati had already yanked her back into her seat. The Gyrffindor table felt weird without their wunderkind but after watching him flail around the pretty Asian girl everyone let it slide. (While they were fine now since Slytherin faced off against Ravenclaw in a few days, it would be interesting to see how Gryffindor/Ravenclaw match went when they faced off soon since they were both Seekers for the rival team) Though it was clear Ron was pouty that he had vacated the table to sit with the Ravenclaws and would whine why couldn't she sit over at Gryffindor table instead of Harry always going over there. And she also noticed his whining being due to the lack of the other third of his trio. It seemed the two were still on the outs with Hermione but while Harry had a lovely distraction Ron was stuck with nothing.

Speaking of Hermione, the girl was being really weird. Aside from the constant books that bogged her down, she was also really high strung which was probably due to her extra classes (how she was doing it she didn't know nor care). Also, she seemed prone to casting uneasy glances at her as well as trying to strike up a conversation with her at odd moments in the dorms. Hope figured it was because her besties weren't talking to her and she was looking for friends.

But, by the third day it was beginning to get a bit trying and she was hoping something else would happen that would take everyone's attention off of her. It was getting almost as bad as the pregnancy scandal. People would whisper as she walked by then stop too abruptly once she turned to face them. Seriously, did these freaks not have lives?

Also, she was getting a bit high strung, waiting on answers from her parents on whether or not that attack was planned or random to the point where she couldn't concentrate in classes. During classes she would gaze out the window, staring for any sign of Nik. Did Parvati really get hurt because of her?

She mulled over this while snuggled in the common room squishy chair, trying to lose herself in the new book her aunt had bought her for Christmas but found herself unable to lose herself in the crime drama as usual.

"Hi, Hope."

"Hi, Harry..." she said absently but then perked up. She hadn't teased the boy about his new relationship. That was a distraction! "So... how was your holiday?"

Harry paused and side-eyed the girl, noting the wide Cheshire grin on her face and felt a sinking sensation. "And here I thought a vampire attack would distract you from teasing the hell out of me..."

"Now, why ever would you think such a thing?" she grinned but then her smile faltered when she got a good look at him, he seemed a bit tired and shaken. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

Hope turned to face him, giving him her best "don't shit me" look. "No... you look all drained and tired... Jinx fight?"

"No."

"Detention?"

"No."

"Diarrhea?"

Now Harry's face cracked into a smile. "You're so gross..."

"One of my many charms," she deadpanned. "Seriously, what's up? You look like you saw a ghost? Was it another dementor?"

Harry hesitated for a moment then shook his head. "No... just been working on some stuff with Professor Lupin to get past the dementors for the next match if they come onto the field. Pretty draining stuff is all."

Hope tilted her head to the side, figuring there was something more he wasn't telling her but decided it was none of her business. After all she was keeping secrets as well. "Ahh... well, good luck."

"Thanks."

Now her smirk returned. "Pity you can't go to Ravenclaw's common room and have Cho snuggle the day away..."

Harry's pale face gained a bit of color. "Just when I thought I was safe..."

"I'm going to need you to quit doing that, thinking you're safe around me." Now she gestured to the chair next to her. "C'mon, since I predicted it, I get to hear the juicy details. How many times have you made out yet?"

"What?! Damn it, Hope!"

Her face fell. "That little, huh?"

Harry only fumed at her and her mouth fell open with realization. "OMG, you haven't yet, have you?" When the boy only shuffled and looked away she gave him a blank stare. "Wait... pause! Now... according to Fred who heard from Ron, you guys finally stopped being stupid the day after Christmas... it's after New Years and not even kiss? God, you guys are slower than snails."

"Will you shut up?!" Harry hissed, throwing one of the couch pillows at her. "It's not that I don't want to... I just... don't know how to go about it..."

Hope sighed and sat sideways in the chair. "Hmm, well... Fred kissed me first. I think she might be waiting on you to make the first move..."

"But... she's older than me... and the girl... she should make the first move when it comes to that!"

"Well, it's nice to see you're not a total backwards moron..." Hope said sarcastically then got out of her chair, ignoring his angry sputters. "I'll help you, but I'm going to need snacks for this..."

Harry watched in dumb silence as Hope left the returned with a big bag of muggle chips and a soda. "Okay," she began with a loud crunch. "First thing is... who mentioned they liked who first?"

"Well... she asked me if I did and I said yes and she told me she liked me too."

Hope nodded and looked deep in thought. "Well... since she made the first move, now its your turn... or so the Internet says..."

"I guess... that makes since. How do you know this?" Harry wasn't allowed to use the Internet at the Durselys'.

"Looking up stuff for Padma while she was at my house on how to get things moving faster with Cedric..." though she stopped and gave a half smile "not the she needs to worry about that now..."

"What?" Harry's brows shot up.

"Nothing! Anyway, you kiss her now. And make sure you're alone..."

"But she's always with her friends..."

"Drag her away from them... like in lunch, go 'Hey, let's take a walk' or something."

"But..." his brow furrowed as he thought about that, "It's really cold right now. I don't think she would..."

"That's why you offer her your cloak or something... Jeez, don't you watch Disney movies?"

"Just _Nightmare Before Christmas, Mulan, Pocahontas _and _The Lion King_..."

"Well... those are the only ones that matter... that and _Tangled_... but anyway, ask her to go on a walk, offer the cloak and then go for it..."

Harry paused as he took in her words. It seemed easy enough. Normally he would have asked Hermione about this but he still wasn't talking to her and plus, Hope knew more about kissing, at least he figured she did with how she and Fred were basically attached at the lips. He would think on it, as well as look for an opportunity.

"Um... thanks."

"No problem."

There was a silence and not wanting to be rude, he turned to her. "So... how was your Christmas?"

"Uh... vampire attack."

"I mean... aside from that. I just figured... you're sick of everyone asking you by now."

"What gave you that idea?" her voice was full of sarcasm.

"Well, when you put on the ear muffs in Herbology so you couldn't hear people talking to you even though we weren't working with mandrakes, it was kind of obvious..."

Hope let out an unladylike snort and gave a conceding nod. "True, true... Okay. Well, my holiday was good..." her face actually went a bit soft. "I met my family..."

Harry's brows rose. "Really?"

"Yeah. My uncle came to visit me for the first time and I Skyped with my parents... My mom is so cool, she's just like me with the sarcasm. I totally have her hair. I look a lot like my dad though. It was, like, the best Christmas ever."

Harry smiled, happy for her, but felt a pang in his stomach that was envy. He wished he had a proper family to go home to as well but all he had were visions from the Mirror of Erised and-

He went cold as he remembered his lessons with Lupin, his father and mother's voices as they faced off against Voldemort to save his life and their final screams

However, it seemed that Hope was blissfully unaware of his discomfort, happily gazing into the fire as she spoke. "I mean, after all this time of just my aunt and me, not knowing a thing about your parents, you can't imagine what it's like to-" she stopped in looked over at him and noticed his face had gone white. "You okay?"

"I think I'll head to the dorms..." he turned to stand.

Hope's mouth dropped with realization and she looked horrified. "Oh... oh god... Harry... I'm..."

"Forget it," he suddenly just wanted to be away from her. He made his way to his dorm before she could say anything more.

However she proved to be faster than he thought and he staggered when her arms wrapped around him from behind. He froze at the sudden contact and tried to break away from her. "Let go, Hope."

Her arms tightened around him. "Harry... Dude... I am so sorry... I so wasn't thinking."

The boy tensed but deflated. "It's fine..."

"No, it's not... I totally suck... I'm an insensitive bitch-cow..." her cheek rested on his back. "I'm sorry..."

While Harry wanted to be upset with her, the reasonable part of his mind told him that she hadn't meant any harm. Besides, it was hard to stay mad when she was using phrases like 'bitch-cow.' Sighing, he gave one of her hands around his middle a pat, "I forgive you... Now, let me go. You're cutting off my circulation..."

He gave her a half smile over his shoulder and she returned it with that goofy grin of hers and finally let him go. "So, you had Cho to yourself the whole break. Just because you didn't kiss doesn't mean you didn't do other stuff! Tell me something scandalous!"

Now he smirked, glad the conversation had entered lighter topics. "What happens on break when you're not here stays at break when you're not here."

Hope let out a disbelieving chuckle as she headed back down into the common room and flopped back on the couch. "Okay... I'll just imagine it myself..."

Harry should have known better than to think that would be the end of it. However when Hope launched into an overly cheesy imagining that involved Cho, himself and Snape's desk (complete with moans and grunts) he found himself hitting her with one of the couch pillows.

"Bloody hell, Hope!" he yelled, chasing her with the pillow, throwing it at her cackling back as she ran up the stairs to the girls' dorms. He then noticed she had left her snacks and took the bag of chips for himself.

"Hey!" she called, realizing. "Gimmie my chips!"

Harry smirked and took the bag up to his room, crunching loudly over her outraged sputters.

* * *

That next week was the match of Slytherin versus Ravenclaw, and unfortunately Ravenclaw was flattened. Harry was torn because on the one hand, Cho was their seeker and he felt he needed to support her but he couldn't help being happy that Gryffindor was still in the running for the cup. Also, now he was going to face off against her and he still didn't have his Firebolt back.

He, along with Wood, had been asking McGonagall to give it back and she would irritably tell them he would get it back whenever he got it back and to quit pestering her. So, he was feeling more than a little put out when he had made his way to lunch, especially since his Patronus lessons with Lupin weren't going as swiftly as he would like. If he could barely handle a boggart, how would he handle a dementor or... a hundred?

"Hi, Harry..."

Harry looked up to see Cho waving him over to the Ravenclaw table. He had wanted to talk with Ron for a moment but he figured he should sit with her since she just lost her match that week. He moved to sit with her, nodding to Cedric and Percy who were both with their Ravenclaw girlfriends. Percy was rambling on to Penelope about something though it sounded like he was puffing himself up.

"-yes, when I found out that it was my brother's girlfriend who was attacked, I of course allowed the use of Hermes so we could find out what happened-"

"-oh yes, a girl in our house is good friends with the girl-"

Harry rolled his eyes. Those two were perfect for each other. He glanced over at Cedric and Padma. The Hufflepuff boy had his arm around the younger girl as she scooped a heap of potatoes onto his plate.

"Cedric... after we finish... could we go to the library? I need to work on my Transfiguration essay and I know how good you are in the subject..."

Harry cast a nervous glance at Cho and eased his hand to hers beneath the table, gently taking it. She jumped but gave him a shy smile then scooted closer to him. Steeling his courage, he slid his arm around the middle of her back, feeling ready to burst with elation when hers went around his waist.

"Ugh, what's Chang doing with him?" he heard Pansy's voice from the Slytherin table behind him. Main reason he did not like sitting at the Ravenclaw table? He was right next to the Slytherins...

"The guy she really wanted snagged a younger, hotter girl and from her own house... I give it a month," another girl snickered.

Harry's stomach sank at her words and his eyes flicked to Diggory who had his arm wrapped around Padma, heading for the exit and had not heard what was said. Cho's hand had flinched then nearly let go of him before she thought better of it, though she was a bit quiet for the rest of the meal. If he wasn't against hitting a girl, he would slap Pansy in her pug face for that.

"Let's... go for a walk," he suggested.

Cho looked at him in confusion but then nodded. Her friends all giggled but thankfully stayed in their seats. They passed Hope and Fred were walking hand in hand though Hope shot him a discreet thumbs up before veering off to where he knew one of the secret passageways was.

As they walked, Harry searched his mind for anything to say. During the break, they normally sat quietly or would talk about Quidditch season but that seemed like a bad topic considering their match was coming up.

"So... how are you doing in your classes?" she asked finally. "It all seems to be moving pretty quickly now that Christmas is over."

"Oh... erm... I'm doing all right... well, not Potions, but in everything else I think I'm getting on all right."

"That's good."

"How about you?"

"I'm doing well in my classes..." she then looked up at him. "Are you going to the World Cup?"

And with that, the conversation flowed much easier. The two talked about Quidditch for the better part of an hour as they walked throughout the castle he had wanted to take a walk outside but is was snowing dreadfully hard.) However, it was soon time for her to head to her next class so they had to part ways.

"Well, I'll see you at dinner..." she said, clearing her throat.

"Right... see you at dinner..."

_It's now or never..._

She turned to leave but he caught her hand. Cho stopped and looked up at him expectantly, a pretty flush on her cheeks. He was surprised she couldn't hear his heart trying to jackhammer its way from his ribs. She rose on her toes and her lips brushed over his. Harry made certain to breathe through his nose and he tried to kiss back.

Her hands went to his shoulders and he hesitantly wrapped an arm around her back. When her lips parted and her tongue slid over his lip he jumped, not expecting that. But he recovered and tried to meet her tongue with his.

The girl let out a strained sound and her fingers clenched on his shoulders. Hoping that meant he was doing well, he tried to go a bit deeper, his arm tightening around her back. Cho pulled back a bit but then returned, though a bit softer than before and when his teeth knocked against her and she winced painfully he started to pull back to apologize, mortified.

The sound of a throat clearing was like a bucket of ice being dumped on their heads. They quickly broke apart and both turned bright red when they faced the person who caught them and Harry thought there must have been a demon tormenting him this winter.

Snape stood in the hall with a dark look on his face. "Ten points from Gyrffindor, Potter. And ten from Ravenclaw as well, Miss Chang now get to your common rooms or classes, now."

If ever there was a moment he truly hated Snape (besides all of the time) this was truly it. He took a pain glance at Cho's humiliated face and he set off for his class and she had to go in the opposite direction, unable to even say goodbye to each other.

* * *

"Psst, Hope!"

"What?"

Hope was currently seated in her Ancient Runes class, matching certain runes to certain Norse Gods when Padma started whispering to her.

"Harry Potter snogged Cho Chang and they were caught by Snape..."

Hopes quill fell out of her mouth and her jaw nearly became unhinged. "Ohh... damn. Really?" she whispered back. She noticed Hermione had paused as well and so did a blond girl a few seats up. "Where'd you hear this?" Hope asked.

"Marietta Edgecomb was telling someone on the way to their class... And she said it was pretty awful... that it was all teeth and tongue..."

Hope said nothing, only turned her head back to her paper and fought to keep her lips from twitching. It was a fight she was losing and she suddenly had a flashback of her second year at Hogwarts when those Valentine trolls had pinned Harry down and had sang out that horrid valentine Ginny Weasley had written for him. She didn't want to laugh and she felt bad for doing but damn it it was funny. Just like that was funny and she couldn't help burying her face in her hands to muffle the snickers.

"Wow... that's so messed up..."

A snicker from behind her told her she wasn't the only one who was highly amused by the whole thing. A few Ravenclaw boys, Terry Boot and Michael Cormac were snickering as well. Hermione as redfaced and kept her eyes resolutely on her paper but Hope saw her lips twitching in a valiant effort to keep from laughing.

"Let it out, Granger..." Padma said with a smirk and Hermione lost all reserve then and buried her face into her bag.

"Excuse me, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw If you're not discussing the lesson, please be quiet," Professor Babbling said with an annoyed look on her face.

"Sorry, Ma'am," Hermione flushed while the others were still snickering though quietly.

* * *

"All right, Harry?" Ron asked as they made their way to Potions. Harry had been acting strange all day.

"I'm fine..."

Ron shrugged then went back to his rant. "But still, I don't get how she's getting to all of her classes!"

Harry only shrugged, too humiliated by the events of the day to even wonder how Hermione was getting a full schedule of classes. He was busy worrying about how Snape would torment him over the kiss with Cho.

However during the first part of class, nothing was really amiss. Snape gave him repulsed looks but thankfully didn't say anything. If all he was going to get were dirty looks, Harry would count his blessings. Snape gave a long lecture on Undetectable Poisons and then told them to read up on them as well as do two roll of parchment essay on the subject, but there was still time left in the class for them to read on the subject. During the reading, Pansy's whiny voice trickled through the air in a harsh whisper.

"Draco... you promised you would spend the morning in the common room with me. Where were you?"

"Probably shagging someone hotter..." Harry heard Dean whisper to Seamus who had to bite his tongue to keep from cackling.

"I'm sorry, I wanted breakfast..." Draco said with a bit of irritation in his voice.

"Well, you could've brought it back with you. I mean," and she noticed Harry and she gave a smirk "unless you were having a dementor fit like some people..."

"Is that the only viable excuse you can come up with to why he's not paying attention to you? Because if I were him I'd honestly rather date the dementors..." Harry said, not knowing where that came from but sick of Pansy's crap ever since lunch that day.

He was blissfully satisified when the both she actually looked hurt while Draco looked pissed. The blond boy opened his mouth to say something but another voice rang out in a harsh whisper. "Oh, shut up, Potter. You can't even snog properly!"

The class went still, Gryffindors mouths falling open while the Slytherins all turned to the girl in giddy delight. "What?" Pansy asked gleefully.

The girl was a blonde, Daphne Greengrass. She gave Harry a smirk who wanted nothing more than to leave the room. How did she even know that? Who even told her that?!

"Oh yes, in Ancient Runes, its all anyone could talk about. Padma Patil was telling everyone that Cho Chang said Harry Potter couldn't snog right, that it was all teeth and tongue and quite dreadful..." she then paused and turned to Snape and then spoke in a louder voice. "Professor? Is it true you actually saw it? I'm sorry."

"No need to worry about me, Miss Greengrass. As Potions master, I am quite used to dealing with repugnant things on a daily basis..."

The Slytherins all burst into giggles and snickers while Harry wanted nothing more than to punch Snape and Jinx Daphne for good measure as well as the rest of Slytherin house. He cast glance at Ron who had his mouth open in shock. Hermione was busily staring at her paper, not looking at anyone. Daphne continued to speak, still giggling.

"I'm quite sure, Professor... But, I felt so bad for poor Professor Babbling... They wouldn't shut up about it in class, you see. She had to tell them, even her two star pupils, Mitchell and Granger, to be quiet because they wouldn't stop laughing about it."

Harryfelt a fire flare in his entire midsection and he turned to look at Hermione who was red face and and ducked her head so her hair hid most of it from view. Hope, who was a seat away from her, was also redfaced and staring resolutely at a spot on the wall. Lavender and Parvati also looked away guiltily which told him Hope more than likely blabbed to the two of them or Padma had... it didn't matter who...

"Dear, dear..." Snape said nastily. "Well, I believe I'll break up this tea party to keep you from laughing like a pack of hyenas in my class. Miss Brown, over by Mr. Nott. Miss Patil, over by Miss Parkinson I'm sure you can function without your savior for the remainder of the lesson. Miss Granger, back to your usual spot between Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. I'm not sure why you moved this start of term but back you go. Miss Mitchell, the American Hero, between Mister Potter and Mr. Malfoy."

Everyone moved and Harry clenched his fist as he was smack between the two girls he wanted to be around the least at the moment. He got a fleeting moment of satifaction from seeing Hermione flinch under the repulsed glare Ron sent her.

"Hey, Potter," Malfoy whispered with glee. "Maybe these two could teach you how to snog properly!"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Ron hissed over the three between him and the Slytherin.

""Oh, that's right... mudblood Granger's teeth would get to you before her lips did and Mitchell's busy slumming it with a Weasley."

"Malfoy, shut the fuck up, you pug rapist," Hope hissed at the blonde boy next to her.

"Five points from Gyrffindor, Miss Mitchell..."

Malfoy opened his mouth to retort but Harry snapped before he could. "Hope, shut up! Don't stick up for me when you were laughing at me!"

"Five points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter..." Snape drawled.

Hope's eyes widened and she looked shock before that familiar look of wrath settled over her features, her eyes narrowing and her lips curling in a sneer. "I was sticking up for me, not you! And instead of snapping at me you need to spend time worrying about why you kiss like a fucking aardvark!"

A moan came from next to Pansy, as if Parvati wanted nothing more than to break this up.

The Slytherins (the males mostly) were now all beside themselves. Malfoy had nearly toppled out of his seat with cackles. Parvati was now bracing herself as if she would need to place a jinx on one of them to keep them from fighting. Ron's mouth was hanging open and Hermione had her head on the table between her arms.

"Miss Mitchell, do sit down or go to Madam Pomfrey for a calming drought..."

Harry didn't fail to notice that Snape didn't take off any points for humiliating him with her screaming. That injustice along with the fact that two of his friends had laughed at him and basically caused this, had him popping out of his seat.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT FRED EVEN WANTS WITH YOU, YOU BLOODY COW!"

Hope was now out of her seat as well, face now beet red. "PROBABLY THE FACT I DON'T KISS LIKE A GOAT EATING ICE CREAM!"

"I hope she punches him like she did Granger..." Malfoy whispered excitedly to his cronies.

"SIT DOWN, BOTH OF YOU!" Snape roared but just then the bell rang."Twenty points from Gryffindor from the both of you!"

Parvati popped out of her seat and had grabbed Hope by the shoulders, leading her out of the classroom before Harry could say anything else, Lavender rushing out after them. Hermione also rushed out as well, face ducked in her books. Harry only stormed out of the classroom, not wanting to speak to anyone.

* * *

"Where are we going?"

Parvati had lead Hope all the way from Snape's dungeon to a girl's bathroom. She then let the girl go and turned on the sink and grabbed some paper towel, wetting it. "Put this on your face an neck," she told her.

Hope was breathing heavily but did as she was told. The cool water felt like a balm on her heated skin and she let out a sigh. "We should go to Defense Against the Dark Arts..."

"No," Parvati said sternly. "You should skip it today. Go to the common room, or the dorms. You need to rest or something-"

"Oh gee, yes Mom!" Hope hissed, feeling her temper flare up. First that ass snaps at her then Parvati's bossing her around? Who the Hell did they think they were?!

"Hope, listen to me!" Parvati hissed, grabbing the girl by the hand and leading her out of the bathroom toward Gryffindor Tower. She glanced around to make sure they weren't being heard then lowered her voice. "You need to go to the dorm and calm down... Especially after what you told me about..." she tapered off and suddenly Hope realized why Parvati was being so weird and smothering.

"Oh... right..."

They went to the dorms, happy to find them empty except for Crookshanks and Hope sat on her bed, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Parvati was pulling out her calendar from Astronomy class as well as the Astrology book Hope (to her now regret) had gotten her for Christmas.

"Well that makes since..."

"What does?" Hope asked, still breathing heavily.

"It's now a waxing Gibbous moon... and it's in Aries..."

Hope rolled her eyes. She was really regretting getting her that book. "Really now?"

"Yes... it can cause a lot of emotional conflict and anger issues and you're more sensitive to the moon than anyone in this school..." Hope scoffed but Parvati continued on "Also, since its getting closer to the full moon, you're 'rage mode' as you call it is kicking in. You need to keep calm if you don't want to... you know..."

Hope took that bit in, knowing it made sense. The closer it did get to the full moon, the more high strung and angry she got. And it seemed as if it was getting worse. "What should I do then? Take a calming potion or something?"

"Honestly, considering you just humiliated Harry, Snape might actually make you one if you asked..."

Hope's stomach gave a guilty twinge at that but she shoved it aside, righteous fury flaring again. "Well, shit, he shouldn't have yelled at me when everyone was laughing at him, not just me! Seamus and Dean were laughing when we left and was he snapping at them? No! Hermione was laughing in Ancient Runes class too! Hell, even his shadow Colin was snickering when he heard about it in the halls on the way to whatever class he has!"

Parvati gave a small shrug and sighed. "Well... I'll head to class... I'll tell you what you missed. Just... hang out up here, all right?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

Parvati left the dorm, leaving Hope to herself. Crookshanks had hopped up onto her bed, giving her a weird stare. "The heck do you want?" Hope asked the cat before turning onto her side, gazing out at the snowy night.

* * *

Harry refused to speak or even look at any of the Gryffindor girls for the rest of the day. Luckily, Hope hadn't shown up to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Parvati had shown up late and Lavender had made an excuse for Hope, stating she didn't feel well due to 'monthly girl issues.' Like that was an excuse for her to be a raging bitch.

During class though, as Hermione took her seat when Lupin went to step out of the class for a moment, Ron had said loudly "If only all the girls had ditched like Hope this would be a much better class!"

Parvati and Lavender shot him withering glares and Hermione had burst into tears. Harry made it a point to say "Ron, not _all_ the girls. Fey Dunbar's not that bad." That earned more tears from Hermione and vicious whispering from Parvati and Lavender and he thought he heard Lavender say "I wish Hope had come to class just so she could lay into him again!"

"No, you really don't..." Parvati said though she kept a beady glare on him for the rest of the lesson.

When class was over and it was time for dinner he resumed his spot back at the Gryffindor table, refusing to sit with Ravenclaw or look at Cho or Padma. He wanted nothing more than to annihilate them come the match in February. To his immense relief, the only third year girl at the Gryffindor table was Fey Dunbar, a quiet girl who barely said anything to anyone and the only Gryffindor girl in his year he didn't want to hex. Hope, Hermione, Lavender and Parvati were all mysteriously absent from the meal, making it quite nice.

However Slytherin walked in, Malfoy at the lead. "Aardvark Potter!"

Harry fumed and Ron had to hold him by the shoulder to keep from jumping up. He was currently sitting with the Quidditch team who were trying, and failing, at cheering him up.

"C'mon, Harry... so you had one bad first kiss..." Katie said kindly. "Who hasn't? You think hers was wonderful?"

"Cho's or Hope's?" Ron asked in confusion.

"Well... I heard Cho's first kiss was with-" Katie started but seemed to think better of telling the story. Why did he have a feeling it was probably Diggory?

"As for Hope..." Fred began then had a dreamy look on his face. "Honestly, Hope wasn't that bad... she just kind of froze. Now, as far as her tongue kissing... I honestly don't remember much, just that she sort of pounced me..." Fred then had a dopey smile as if lost in some happy memories before getting smacked in the arm by Alicia. "Oh, right! But, this is about you! Want to hear about Percy's first kiss?"

"Oh... god, no..." George muttered with a disgusted shiver.

Harry smiled weakly, appreciating their efforts but it wasn't working. This just seemed like the icing on an already horrid month.

* * *

About an hour later as Hope was trying to drown her wrath in a Stephen King novel, Parvati returned with Lavender and Hermione in tow. As per the norm, Hermione sat down on her bed and began doing her homework, apparently avoiding the common room as well considering Harry was pissed with her on two accounts now.

"So, how was class?" Hope asked Parvati.

"It was all right, thouh everyone noticed you weren't there. Harry refused to look at anyone and mainly talked to Ron..."

"As usual..." Hermione huffed from her bed but didn't lift her head from her papers.

"I told Lupin you weren't feeling well due to lady issues..." Lavender said and Hope broke into a giggle.

"And what did he say to that...?"

"He said that you should ask Snape to make you a cramp potion as well as a potion for mood swings. He heard about what happened because Dean and Seamus were talking about it when he came into the class. Though he was still looking sick," Lavender added. "I wonder what's wrong with him..."

Hermione let out a small sniff but no one paid attention, figuring she was sniffing about something Harry and Ron related.

"Though..." Hermione spoke up. "Ron was going on about how if all the girls had ditched as you had it would have been a good class..." It was clear now the girl had been crying.

"Okay, first of all," Hope said, moving into a sitting position. "Why is he lumping us all in the same boat when Fey Dunbar didn't even do anything!" she looked around the dorm. "Where is she anyway?"

"She's at dinner," Lavender said absently.

"Oh. Second of all, if he wasn't my boyfriend's brother I would kick his Richie Cunningham looking ass so quick..."

"Who?" Lavender asked in confusion.

"American TV character..." Hermione sad absently though her lips twitched. "Mum and Dad really like _Happy Days."_

The fact that Hermione wasn't trying to tell them off for laughing and talking about beating up one of her best friends was testament to how irritated she also was with the boys. The girls exchanged bemused glances before continuing.

"Is it bad..." Parvati said after a while, "that I'm glad Harry's bad kissing has gotten the attention off of us?"

"No." Hope said immediately. "I refuse to feel bad."

"Honestly, everyone knows Cho is good friends with Marietta Edgecomb," Hermione said, "so it stands to reason that soon everyone would know by the end of the night. I don't know why he's surprised since his girlfriend is best friends with the-"

"-the school foghorn?" Hope finished, already bringing up this point earlier.

"Exactly."

* * *

Over the next month, Hope and Harry refused to even speak with each other. Ron only spoke to her to pass on messages from Fred if the need arose. Basically she was ostracized from them just as Hermione which oddly enough had the two finding a weird sort of common ground other than their dislike of Trelawney. Though they still tried to outdo each other in Ancient Runes.

Harry on the other hand, was the subject of merciless teasing for the better part of a week from Slytherin. They had taken to slugging their tongues out whenever he passed. Malfoy, when he was with Pansy, would grab her and pretend to kiss her with too much tongue while Pansy made barfing motions, much to the amusement of the other Slytherins.

"Hey, Aardvark Potter!" Malfoy would call as well and Harry was hard pressed not to punch the boy.

Due to this torment, he made it a point not to speak to Hope or Hermione. The bushy haired girl, he noticed, would avoid him by going to the library. She had tried to apologize for laughing but he didn't want to hear it. Hope, on the other hand, refused to even try to apologize after he had snapped at her in class. Whenever she was around when the Slytherins mocked him, she simply walk past with a haughty look on her face.

Though after a week, Cho had finally sought him out after one of his classes. While he really didn't want to speak with her because she told, she looked so upset that he conceded.

"Harry... I'm really sorry... I only told one friend... I didn't think it would get out..."

Harry honestly figured she should have known better considering girls couldn't keep their mouths shut about much of anything. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"We were caught by Snape... And I rushed to my common room and when I would've come to you, you weren't talking to me because it got out. Not that I blame you..."

Harry wanted to stay mad with her but she looked so sorry and hopeful he just couldn't. Swallowing, he gave a sigh and a nod. "I forgive you..."

Cho smiled and then gave him a peck on the lips, wrapping her arms around his neck. Harry couldn't help the tingle that went up his spine and he slid his arms around her waist, though refrained from really kissing her back, still stung from the taunts.

She seemed to anticipate this and pulled back, then glanced around. She then pulled him to an empty classroom that was far from the dungeons and Snape's classroom. Once sure the coast was clear, she leaned in to kiss him, turning so her back was pressed against the door.. "Just follow my lead..." she said softly before locking their lips.

Harry tensed but kept the caress light as she did, shivering when her tongue slid over his lips. He parted them and she slipped her tongue into his mouth he was unable to stop the sigh that escaped him. She probed him lightly and he tried to follow her lead. There was no teeth mashing this time and this time the sound she made was a soft moan.

"Did I mess up?" he asked, pulling away nervously.

"No," she said with a smile and leaned in to kiss him again.

Harry's hand moved from her back to her shoulders and he sighed when her hand went into his hair.

"I missed you, Harry..." she said pulling away from his lips and then placed a small kiss on his neck.

Harry's eyes widened and his hands clenched against her shoulders as a shiver wracked his frame. That was new! Her tongue slid up the side of his neck and he made the most embarrassing noise ever but thankfully she didn't laugh. However, she did pull away to kiss him again, this time harder.

When she did pul away, Harry was left with a decidedly fuzzy brain which was probably due to his blood not going in that direction. Cho was smiling and blushing prettily at him. He fought for something to say but nothing really came out.

"Er..."

Cho giggled. "I should... head back... I have class soon."

Right class. What was class again?

"I'll see you later, Harry..."

"Should I sit with you at dinner?" Harry blurted out as she headed for the door.

Cho smiled over her shoulder. "I'd like that..." she said and left the room and a rather hot and bothered Gryffindor behind.

* * *

"So... apparently Cho apologized to Harry and they're back together..." Parvati had told Hope as they walked to lunch one Saturday a few days later as January was fading. "Marietta said that they made up a few days ago."

"Wow... really?" Hope deadpanned, not surprised. "Not shocked there... He still doing shitty aardvark impressions?"

Padma, who was walking with them, bit back a smirk. "I don't know... she's not saying anything."

"Oh, she learned..." Hermione muttered nastily as she passed them.

The three girls exchanged a glance and Hope cleared her throat. "Harry still not talking to you either?" she asked, eyes narrowing when she saw the boy in question along with Ron.

"No..." Hermione said shrilly, stopping to hang back when Harry and Ron walked toward the hall.

Hope's brow winged up. "I know you didn't just hang back so they could walk in front of you!" She said loudly and Hermione blinked. Hope rolled her eyes and grabbed the girl's arm, dragging her along to pointedly pass in front of them. "Hanging back for the two of them, you got me fucked up..."

"Hope..." Parvati hissed, falling into step with them. "Calm down..."

Hope gave an annoyed growl. Ever since Hope had told the girl what triggered the curse, she had been buzzing around her nervously, trying to keep her calm and from killing someone. Hope knew that considering she did want to kill Pansy she shouldn't be surprised but it was still irritating, the way she looked at her as if she were a grenade. As if she weren't nervous enough about herself as it was. Especially since tonight was a full moon. And she hadn't heard anything back yet from her family about the attack. Needless to say she was more than a bit miffed during the day.

"I am calm..." she said to Parvati through clenched teeth.

"You don't look it..."

"Oh look, trouble in paradise," Malfoy sneered as he walked past them..

"Oh fuck you, Malfoy," Hope sneered back.

"After slumming it with Weasley, I'm not surprised you're throwing yourself at me..." the boy smirked then glared at Hermione before addressing Hope again. "But you've been hanging around that mudblood so much that... now I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole..."

"So... what you're saying is..." Hermione said with a cold smirk before Hope could retort, "that you would have ordinarily... My, my... What would Pansy say?" she then looked over Malfoy's head and her smirk widened. "There she is. Let's ask her."

Pansy stood with Daphne and Millicent, mouth in a hard line but she didn't say anything. She only moved to sit at the Slytherin table as far from Malfoy's group as possible.

Parvati and Hope instantly forgot their yelling at each other and both looked at each other in glee.

"Oooh... ouch!" Hope fake-hissed, wrath deflating at the hurt look on Pansy's face and the way Malfoy gaped like a fish out of water.

"Pansy, it's not like I meant-"

"SHUT UP!" Pansy screeched at him.

Malfoy looked shocked that she would scream at him but moved to sit with Crabbe and Goyle. He glared at Hermione and then at something behind her. "Bet you thought that was funny, didn't you, Potter?"

"A little bit, yeah," Harry said shamelessly, smiling widely as he moved past the girls, ignoring them and toward the Ravenclaw table.

Malfoy seethed but went toward the Slytherin table, sitting with Crabbe and Goyle.

Hope, in better spirits, linked arms with both Parvati and, surprisingly, Hermione. "Nothing like humiliating Malfoy and Parkinson to work up an appetite!"

She practically skipped to the table, waving pleasantly at Pansy who turned her back on her. She then sat down and helped herself to some soup when the fluttering of post owls caught her attention. Several owls flew to various students as per usual but what caught everyone's attention was the giant box being carried by Nik as well as six barn owl and her eyes widened when it was placed in front of her.

"What is that?" Parvati asked in awe.

Hope opened the parcel and noted it the inside was covered in blue packing paper. On top was a note in her aunt's handwriting.

_Dear Hope,_

_DON'T OPEN THIS IN AT YOUR TABLE! Last thing you want is to get food on it._

_Your parents weren't able to find anything that suggested this was planned. Animal attacks and disappearances were recorded around the area so it seemed that you just saved many people. Also, I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner but I wanted to make sure I didn't leave a single stone unturned. _

_As for everything here: Presents from your family as they were pretty late for the past thirteen years. Enjoy._

All thoughts of food forgotten, Hope shut the package and rushed out of the Great Hall, Parvati at her heels. Running into the room, almost stepping on Crookshanks who was at the door, Hope dived onto her bed with the package, Parvati following. She yanked the hangings shut for privacy in case anyone came back and pulled out the first smaller wrapped package which she could tell were books.

_Dear Hope,_

_Your aunt tells me you like comics. Well, here you go. I found it fitting to get you a series of a supernatural dysfunctional family. _

_Love, _

_Your Mom._

Hope unwrapped it and was pleasantly surprised with the complete series _The Sandman _by Neil Gaiman. Well, she knew what she would be doing in History of Magic.

"Oh my God, I love Neil Gaiman!" Hope cheered.

"Who?" Parvati asked, looking at the books curiously.

Hope rolled her eyes and went to the next one. The next package was a small envelope with what looked like a wad of Euros. Her mouth dropped open and she read the card inside.

_Dearest Hope,_

_The concept of what to get a teenaged girl escape me. So, I hate to be a cliché but I suppose I'll just be that uncle that gives you copious amounts of money. Don't spend it all in one place. _

_Always and Forever, _

_Uncle Elijah_

"Oh my God! I'm going shopping!" she cried. "I'm so getting the new Resident Evil!" She then went for the last wrapped item that was the hugest one amongst them. When she unwrapped it, she gasped as the skyline of New Orleans, a huge beautiful full moon hanging over it, greeted her.

_My Littlest Wolf,_

_I promised you before you were born that this city would be yours one day. I painted this before you were born and I believe its high time you have it back. And until this city is yours, this painting will have to do._

_Always and Forever,_

_Your Father._

Now Hope felt tears welling into her eyes as she gazed at the painting. It really was beautiful. Parvati also looked awestruck at the sight of it.

"You should hang it up, Hope."

Hope nodded and went to hang up the picture above her bed, smiling tearfully.

"It's beautiful..." Parvati said softly.

"Yeah... shame I don't have Dad's talent... I can barely draw stick figures..."

Hermione and Lavender entered the dorm a moment later, mouths dropping at the beautiful painting that hung over Hope's bed.

"Hope, who sent you that?" Lavender asked in awe.

"My Dad..." she said softly. "And uncle Elijah sent me a crap ton of money and Mom gave me comics," she added with a big grin. "Now I'm so glad I have reading material for History of Magic!"

"You could try paying attention in class, you know," Hermione said in a superior tone.

"Yeah, and maybe you'll lose your virginity to Goyle..."

Hermione let out a disgusted groan and shivered. "Can't you just say 'no' like a normal person!?" she cried and stormed out to go to sit in the common room.

"Is it me or does she pop up in weird places randomly?" Lavender asked as she got comfortable on her bed.

"I don't care enough to pay attention..." Hope said as she also flopped on her bed, happily reading the first volume of her comic.

* * *

Hermione zipped up her huge bag and made her way to the library exit. As per her usual ritual, she was spending most of her time that had nothing to do with classes looking for something to help Hagrid's case for Buckbeak. However, while her heart was a bit lighter after humiliating Parkinson (that horrid bitch had it coming for two and a half years) she still missed Harry and Ron terribly. However she refused to apologize or beg them to talk to her when she was only doing what she thought was right. A mysterious broom shows up right when a crazed killer is on the loose and after Harry and she reports it and somehow she's the bad guy? Granted, she felt horrible about it as well as laughing at Harry and she had tried to apologize but only walked past her as if she were beneath his notice. Yet, he readily forgave Cho when she was the one who started it by blabbing to the 'school foghorn' as Hope called her. Boys really were pathetic at times.

Though oddly enough ever since she had been on good terms with the girls in her dorm, things had seemed not so bad. However as much as Hope irritated her with her brash, loud and rude ways she found her weirdly likeable ever since earlier when she insisted that she walk in front of Ron and Harry instead of hanging back.

Shifting the huge backpack on her shoulders she veered off to a bathroom, ignoring Moaning Myrtle's wailing. She stopped in front of the mirror, frowning at her reflection. She really did look horribly tired, almost as bad as Lupin though he had a much better reason as to why he was so worn down.

A toilet flushed and she was surprised to see Hope exiting a cubicle, comic in hand and fanning dramatically. "I'd advise you against breathing through your nose..."

Hermione shook her head but laughed despite herself. "You're so gross..."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a delicate flower and I'm a joy to be around."

Hermione shook her head again. "I thought you were in the common room reading..."

Hope gave her a quizzical look. "Dude, that was hours ago. I was just in for dinner... You need to get out of the library more often... the vampire I fried looked more livelier than you. Seriously, the heroine-chic look has been out for a while now, no matter what the fashion industry tries to tell the muggles."

"I was looking for ways to help Hagrid..." Hermione told her. "In his case for Buckbeak."

Hope's gaze flashed that blue fire Hermione remembered so well that day in September. "I swear, if I wasn't trying to be good right now, I would kick Malfoy's ass..."

Hermione told her all about the inquiry, the case that Malfoy's father was pushing. The girl's face hardened even more and she rolled her eyes. "It's like that shit with that Umbridge bitch..."

"Who?"

"This bitch I read about in a copy of the Prophet over break... she's pushing for an anti-werewolf legislation that's making it really hard for them to get jobs. Like it's _their_ fault what happened to them!? It's just as shitty as when gay people and women and people of a certain color can't get jobs in the muggle world? I bet the bitch was a Slytherin..."

Hermione felt her own ire flare at that, especially after doing the essay Snape had assigned her and realizing exactly what-

"Hey, I wonder what you get when you mix mudblood with Yank apple tart..."

Hermione froze and Hope took a deep breath through her nose when Pansy entered the bathroom Daphne and Millicent trailing in with her, eyes trained on Hermione.

"You think I'm going to let you humiliate me like that in breakfast and get away with it, mudblood?! And you, you slut," Pansy rounded on Hope "I thought I told you to keep your fat ass away from Draco!"

Hope and Hermione exchanged eyerolls. "I love it when these stupid bitches come griping to the girl their boyfriend is eyeballing who wants nothing to do with them... Like its my fault she's ugly and her man doesn't want her..." Hope said with a smirk but then let it drop and said something Hermione never though she'd hear coming from the loud girl's mouth. "But, Parkinson, I really don't want to get into this with you. So, I'm going to leave the bathroom... and I'm taking Hermione with me. I honestly don't want trouble today..."

Pansy gave her a false smile. "Oh... really? Well... I don't want to get Granger's filthy blood al over my clothes but that just might happen. See how no one really gets what they want?"

And then Pansy shot a jinx at Hermione that had her doubling over while Millicent tackled Hope into the nearest cubicle. Hermione cried out when Daphne yanked her up and Pansy punched her in the face.

"Oh, you bitch!" Hope growled, locking her foot over Millicent's shoulder and gripping her hair with one hand, pounding punch after punch into her head with the other. The Slytherin's strong arms locked around her back and whirled her out of the cubicle, effectively body slamming Hope into the hard tiles. Hope gasped and screamed as her shoulder gave a sickening pop. Millicent then abandoned Hope on the ground in favor of joining Pansy in pummeling Hermione.

"Kick... that bitch in the twat... Hermione..." Hope grunted out, gripping her arm in pain as she tried to get up.

Hermione must have heard her words as her foot suddenly flew up, toe pointed up like an arrow and landed right between Pansy's legs. Her hands flew from Hermione's hair to grip her abused privates and Daphne was so shocked that her grip on the girl slacked. Hermione broke loose and she grabbed her heavy bag, swinging it with all her might and knocking Daphne in side, sending her toppling. Millicent was a bit harder to send reeling as she only staggered but caught Hermione by the hair and effectively slung her into a wall by it.

But right when she was about to pound into Hermione, a brunette ball of rage flew up and pushed her away from the Gryffindor and she slipped, head cracking against the sink and she fell.

"Get up!" Hope snarled at Millicent, blood boiling. "GET UP, YOU BITCH!"

Millicent didn't move.

The wrath cleared from Hope's face like chalk being erased from a board. Hermione sprang from the wall and went to Millicent's side.

"Millie?!" Pansy shrieked, getting to her feet along with Daphne.

Hermione turned to Hope, "Hope, she's not-" she stopped when she saw the look on Hope's face. "Hope..."

Suddenly to everyone's relief Millicent's eyes fluttered open and she struggled to sit up, knocking Hermione's hand away from her. "Don't touch me, mudblood!"

Hermione's face hardened "I'm glad Hope maimed you then, you bitch!"

Pansy and Daphne yanked Millicent to her feet. "Let's get you to Madam Pomfrey, come on..."

The Slytherins left just as Cho and another Ravenclaw with reddish-blond hair, Marietta, ran into the bathroom, more than likely drawn by the grunts and curses.

"Oh God, what happened?" Cho asked in alarm.

"Slytherin cunts, that's what..." Hope growled out and stormed past them, wanting to get back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Shouldn't you have your shoulder looked at-" Cho started.

"I'll be fine..." Hope said through grit teeth, gripping her shoulder and leaving the restroom.

As she left, Marietta led Hermione out of the bathroom. "Can you get Hope's book?" she asked Cho who was lifting her heavy backpack on her shoulders.

"Why do you have so many books?" Cho grunted as she got Hope's book, not noticing the uneasy look the Gryffindor cast at Hope's retreating back.

Hermione wasn't sure, but for a moment, just one before the fear had settled on Hope's face, she thought she saw a look of grim satisfaction.


	16. Chapter 16

Harry had been in the Great Hall that Saturday night with Ravenclaw, having dinner when Cho and Marietta had left for the restroom. When they left he had moved back to the Gryffindor table, chattering with Ron and the Quidditch team and feeling strange to be sitting at the Gryffindor table after being at the Ravenclaw table for so many days, but it was a good sort of strange, like returning home after a long trip. While it was nice sitting with Cho, he missed the laughs of the rowdy Gryffindor table. At the Ravenclaw tabe it was mostly idle gossip and talking of schoolwork.

And then the thought of schoolwork brought up the image of Hermione. He absently looked along the table and noted she wasn't there. Probably in the library as usual. Hope was there for a moment with Parvati and Lavender, but she was busily reading a muggle comic and not paying attention to much. He had caught a glimpse of the cover and saw the author's name, the same man who had made a movie he rather liked, _Coraline_, and for a moment wanted to strike up a conversation with her. But then he remembered he was in a fight with her.

"Can you two please make up?" Fred had asked Harry wearily. "Our match is coming soon and how is she supposed to do the Mallet Time in the stands like she normally does when we win if she and our Seeker are on the outs?"

"That's _Hammer Time_," Harry said automatically and inwardly smirked at the memory.

"_Dude, you so need to eat something!"_

_It was the day of his first Quidditch match and eleven year old Harry was too nervous to eat anything. Everyone was trying to get him to eat but he doubted he'd be able to keep anything down. Now, Hope, the girl who had gawked at him on the train but didn't make a huge deal about who he was (Thankfully) trying to get him to eat. _

"_I'm not hungry..."_

_The girl only huffed. "Dude, listen... I've played a jillion sports back home and I get it, nerves are an epic pain, but you need to eat something because if you don't your brain won't have enough fuel and you might miss the little gold ball thingy because you were too busy being in a hunger fog."_

_Harry, who hadn't even thought of that, suddenly felt his stomach drop with dread. _

"_Nice going!" Ron had hissed at her._

"_Though... she has a point..." Hermione said grudgingly. It was no secret she and the American disliked each other. Harry wasn't surprised. It was hard to find two more different girls. The only thing they had in common was Slytherin hatred. _

"_Hey... I need you to win. I promised Parvati I'd do the Hammer Time in the stands if you won. You're not gonna make me break a promise, are you?" She shoved a giant platter of eggs and sausages in front of him and arched a brow at him. "Eat it. Three bites and I'll shut up."_

"_Her, shut up? Not bloody likely..." Pansy Parkinson had walked by with her gang of Slytherin girls. _

"_Shut up, Parkinson... Or I'll feed you some chocolate. That's toxic to dogs." Hope had said without even looking up and the Gryffindors burst into cackles, even Hermione. Harry instantly felt a bit better and decided to take a few bites as a thank you. Hope grinned widely as Pansy stalked off and Harry ate._

_And hours later, after the jinxed broom, the cheating by Slytherin and Lee's commentary, he had won Gryffindor the match, nearly swallowing the snitch in the process._

"_GRYFFINDOR WINS! HARRY POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH AND-What is Hope Mitchell doing? Is she dancing in the stands?"_

_Throughout the confusion, and the happiness and the many lumps of the team grabbing him in a many armed hug, Harry could make out the form of Hope, on the back of the stands doing an unmistakeable Hammer Time._

"_CAN'T TOUCH THIS!" She then danced a bit too exuberantly and had fallen but her fall was broken by an unamused and irritated Percy Weasley, much to the amusement of the crowd._

"_I'm okay!" she cheered and he saw her give a huge smile and thumbs up before Harry was hustled off to Hagrid's by Ron and Hermione._

_And as a result, whenever Gryffindor won the match, Hope would do the Hammer Time in the stands, though Percy would make certain to not be anywhere near her._

Coming out of the memory Harry sighed, knowing that if he won and she didn't do the dance it would feel terribly wrong. Also, he sort of missed her crude humor and sarcasm. Just as he was beginning to miss Hermione.

However when he looked up he saw she had already left the table, running out of the Great Hall, book in one hand and the other over her stomach with a comically pained expression on her face. Fred watched her leave and rolled his eyes.

"Parvati, what did she eat?" he asked down the table.

"Everything... and a lot of it..." Parvati said with no small amount of exasperation before going back to her conversation with Lavender.

"How does someone that little eat so much and not get fat?" Seamus pondered.

"Oh.. she's not all little... she's actually got a few pounds... in all the right places..." Fred said with a dreamy expression on his face before getting hit with a roll by Angelina.

Harry decided to keep quiet on that and instead glanced back to the entrance to see if Cho and Marietta were back. They still hadn't returned and he was honestly getting a bit tired. He would wait another twenty minutes then he would go back to the Tower.

Twenty minutes passed and the still did not return so he left the Hall. As he made his way through the castle, he heard footsteps and was surprised when he saw it was Cho and Marietta.

"Oh, Harry! Were you looking for me? I'm sorry I took so long."

"Er..." he didn't know how to tell her that he wasn't looking for her.

"We just came back from taking Hermione Granger to the hospital wing," Cho explained and he felt a twinge of worry that made him forget his anger at the girl.

"The hospital wing? What happened?"

"She and Hope Mitchell got into a fight with Slytherin girls. Hermione was bruised really badly and Madam Pomfrey said she also had some cracked ribs. Millicent Blustrode had a concussion but Madam Pomfrey fixed it up. She wants to keep Millicent overnight. I don't think she knows they were fighting, though... Hermione told Madam Pomfrey that she had slipped when the stairs decided to move."

Saying nothing, Harry left the two and headed to the hospital wing. When he got there, he found Hermione sitting up in bed, gently massaging her ribs. He also saw Millicent Blustrode lying in bed with Pansy and Daphne sitting next to her though she kept a beady glare at Hermione.

"Hermione..."

The girl looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of Harry and she looked briefly elated but then her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"

The tone of her voice cut him. Sighing, he pulled a chair up next to her bed. "Hermione... I'm... I'm sorry for being a git about the broom... I know you were just trying to help."

Hermione gave him a sideways look then sighed. "I'm sorry I laughed at you about Cho..."

He noticed she didn't apologize about the broom and wasn't surprised. Glad they were friends again, Harry took a glance at the Slytherin girls who were watching them intently and then turned back to his friend. "So... what happened?"

Hermione's features hardened. "I was in the bathroom with Hope and they came in. They were mad about us embarrassing them in the Great Hall and Parkinson still thinks Hope wants Malfoy... Hope actually tried not to fight. She actually tried to walk away but they wouldn't hear it. Blustrode tackled Hope in a cubicle and the other two attacked me two to one. Greengrass held me while Parkinson punched me, then Hope was... she was body slammed into the floor and with her on the ground they both attacked me while Greengrass held me."

Harry wanted nothing more than to hex and punch every single one of those bitches across the room, chivalry be damned! However, he then noticed the pleased smirk on Hermione's face and knew there was more to tell.

"And... Hope told me to kick one of them and I did... I got Parkinson... though I might have to ask Madam Pomfrey to cut off my foot and give me a new one..."

"Eh?"

Hermione smiled conspiratorially before breaking into a fit of giggles. Now Harry felt himself smiling, "Hermione where did you kick her?"

"I'm surprised my foot wasn't swallowed..." Hermione whispered lowly through the giggles. It took Harry a moment to realize what she meant and when he did his mouth fell open.

"You didn't!" He glanced at Pansy who was now stomping out of the wing, Daphne following, though he noticed an odd limp to her walk. Harry was unable to keep in the fit of laughter. "Hermione, you're awesome!"

The girl smiled wider. "It was Hope's idea... She goes..." now she blushed and checked around for Madam Pomfrey, "She said 'kick that bitch in the twat' and well..."

Harry then doubled over even harder, covering his mouth with his hand so he wouldn't get told off by Madam Pomfrey. After calming down, he took a deep breath. It was now impossible to be mad at either of them, especially when those Slytherin girls had it coming. "Where is Hope? Cho said that they brought you here but not her..."

Hermione sobered up. "Oh, she just left straight away... though she was livid... Harry, it was a bit scary, the fight... After the kick, I hit them all with my bag but Millicent wouldn't go down then she threw me into a wall. Hope had gotten up and pushed her into the sink where she hit her head. Though, honestly... for a moment... we thought she was dead." It seemed there was also something else Hermione wanted to say but she remained quiet. And he wouldn't pester her about it.

"So, tell me about you and Cho?" she asked brightly and he happily told her about their relationship, though he couldn't help but feel that talking about it with Hermione lacked a certain something... more than likely the wise cracks and innuendo of a certain silly American comic nerd.

* * *

When Madam Pomfrey said it was fine for Hermione to leave, he had walked her back to the common room just in case Pansy or Daphne tried anything, even carrying her heavy bag for her. "How can you carry all of these without toppling? God, you're stronger than you look..." he grunted while she giggled then turned serious.

"Harry... you should probably make up with her... I'm sure she didn't mean what she said in class that day. She just... has a tendency to act on impulse, especially when cornered or threatened..."

Harry grunted noncommittally. It seemed just as taking on a Mountain Troll had made him friends with Hermione, taking on a pack of Slytherin girls had made her friends with a girl who she usually saw as a royal pain. Though, if he had to admit, it was probably the way he and Ron treated the both of them that forged this new bond between them.

When they entered the common room it was emptying, people heading to their dorms. Harry handed Hermione her bag and she retreated to the girls' dorms but stopped half way up the steps. "Hope, are you all right? Your hoodie has blood on it."

"It's not mine," he heard the girl say and her voice sounded a bit strange, like she was weary and hoarse.

"Well, I have your book. I had Cho get it. It's in my bag, I can give it to you-"

"I'll get it tomorrow... thanks."

"You're holding your arm like it's hurt. Are you sure you're al-"

"I'm fine, Hermione." Now her voice sounded impatient but then it sobered. "Sorry... it's just been a shitty night... Nice kick by the way. I'll see you upstairs."

Before Hermione could say anything else, Hope had passed her and entered the common room, stopping when she saw Harry. "Ugh... great..."

Harry figured he deserved that. He gave a small assuring nod to Hermione who was watching the scene skeptically and when she retreated he turned to Hope. "Hope..." he asked the girl who was sitting in one of the chairs, glaring at the fire, "mind if I join you?"

"On many levels and with great intensity," she hissed.

Not being put off by the acid in her voice he sat across from her. She really did look like hell. Her eyes were puffy as if she had been crying, there was indeed blood on her hoodie and her normally composed high ponytail was a giant mess. Also, she was keeping her arm close to her body, bent at the elbow. While Hermione might not have been to familiar with arm injuries, being on the Quidditch team as well as being subjected to Dudley's bullying for years on end had acquainted him well.

"You're hurt. Why didn't you go to Madam Pomfrey?"

"Don't act like you're worried about me when you've been a giant dick to me for a month," she spat and he knew he really deserved that.

"Hope... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you in Potions that day..."

Hope's eyes shifted to him and for a moment they were hot with rage but she quickly shut them and took a deep breath through her nose. "Whatever..."

The fact she wasn't telling him to crawl up his own butt and die deemed well for him but the fact she wouldn't even apologize about her own outburst or laughing at him irritated him. He was about to huff out a scathing remark but stopped when he saw the haunted look in her eyes as she watched the flames. Her body was also trembling a bit and not as if she were cold. He remembered shaking like that the day he heard about Black betraying his family and ultimately getting them killed.

"What's wrong? You've been a thousand fights, why are you so freaked out about this one? Is it because you hurt Millicent Blustrode? Because she only had a concussion and Madam Pomfrey healed her, though she has to stay overnight."

Hope flinched at the mention of Millicent and she stood, wincing as she did so. "I'm going to bed."

Harry stood as well, blocking her path. Her eyes flashed wrathfully but she shut them again and took another deep breath. "Get out of my way..."

"You're hurt... You should go to Madam Pomfrey."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

"How the Hell are you gonna tell me what I am?"

How on earth did Fred put up with her? Ignoring her snark, he moved closer to get a look at her shoulder. Now that he was closer, he saw it was a bit uneven from the other. He had seen that plenty of times on the Quidditch field, practice as well as actual matches. He'd also experienced it twice at the hand of Dudley.

"Hope... is... is it _dislocated?"_

When Hope froze he felt his anger at her flare up again for a completely different reason than her yelling at him in Potions. "Why didn't you have Madam Pomfrey look at it?" He reached forward and grabbed her good arm. "I'm taking you there right now."

"No!"

Her yell startled the boy as she yanked her arm out of his grip. She then whimpered when the movement caused pain to her other shoulder, her other hand coming to grip it. However she took a deep breath through her nose and forced her eyes to meet his.

"I can't... I can't go there, Harry. I can't be around Blustrode... not now... She's still there and I... I can't..." her voice wavered a bit and she still shook. She looked wrathful and fearful all at the same time. She then shut her eyes and took a few breaths and when she opened her eyes and spoke, she looked and sounded a bit calmer.

"Harry, the last place I need to be is anywhere near her, especially now..."

"Well, you can't leave it like that," Harry said after a tense moment. What had her so scared? Millicent was brutish but she had cold-clocked Marcus Flint last year and he was built like a troll. There was something she wasn't telling him but it wasn't his business. However, something about the fearful look she had as well as the way she held her shoulder had pity blooming in him as well as a need to help her.

"If it's out of joint then it needs to be put back in place otherwise it won't heal properly." He had no idea why she was so adamant about not going to the hospital wing but he couldn't leave her like this. "I... I can pop it back in for you."

Now her blue eyes widened in shock and she seemed to weigh her options between letting a boy she had been on the outs with for a month fix her shoulder or a skilled healer who was in the hospital wing with a girl she did not want to be around at any costs.

"All right..." she said finally.

Harry nodded and then swallowed, suddenly nervous. He had seen Wood do this for Alicia during practice when she fell off her broom and for George when a bludger hit him during a match and there was no time for him to go to Madam Pomfrey. He had also had it done for him twice, once by a kind nurse in muggle school after Dudley had dislocated it as well as by Aunt Petunia who snapped it back in with all the gentleness of a gorilla. But doing it himself for someone else was a totally different thing. What if he hurt her worse?

"Or... I can wake up Oliver and he can do it," he said, wanting to back out. "He's done it before..."

"No..." she said, shaking her head, eyes shifting. "You do it... and don't tell anyone..."

Harry had a feeling Fred knew nothing of her shoulder and she didn't want Oliver telling him. What was going on? Sighing, he nodded and thought of the best way to do this.

"All right... um..." Giving in, he took a deep breath. "All right... here, stand against the wall."

Hope didn't question it, only did as he told her and pressed her back against the wall. Remembering what Wood did with the others, he wrapped his arm around her good shoulder and gripped the forearm of her injured one, his body bracing hers against the wall. Hope winced at the touch and bit her lip, eyes squinched shut.

"Try and relax..." he told her in what he hoped was a soothing voice.

"Uh-huh..." her voice now sounded a bit high.

"This is going to hurt so I'll do it fast..."

Now Hope let out a small chuckle and he saw her lips quirk up, "Dude... you cannot say that when you have me pressed into the wall and expect me to not make a dirty joke..."

He smirked despite the situation, knowing she was trying to calm herself by being gross. And of course, he couldn't resist jibing back at her and said in a totally deadpan voice "Don't worry, I'll be gentle."

The girl giggled again then took a deep, shaky breath. "Okay... I'm ready. Go for it."

Gripping her arm, Harry grunted as he jerked her shoulder back into place with all of his strength with a loud pop. Hope didn't scream lest she wake up the whole tower, but she did let out a whimper as tears spilled from her eyes. She then let out a shuddering breath that ended on a small wail and sagged against him.

"That sucked..." she said with a sigh, her head dropping to his shoulder.

Harry froze, feeling awkward now that she was draped on him and his arm was still around her. A sweet, candy-like smell tickled his nose, reminding him of Honeydukes and he realized it was her hair. She was panting lightly against his neck and it sent a small tingle through him.

Swallowing, he gently pulled away from her, giving her good arm a comforting, friendly pat. "How do you feel? I mean... your shoulder...?"

Hope lifted her head and gave her shoulder a testing roll and her brows shot up as if surprised. "Pretty good... Thanks."

Harry gave her a relieved smile, glad he didn't make it worse. "It'll probably hurt for a few days but you can probably get Madam Pomfrey to heal it up... tomorrow," he added, not wanting her to flip out again.

Hope gave an absent nod. "Right... will do." She then gave him a half smile. "Since you're popping joints back in place, I guess I can forgive you for being a dick to me all month. Sorry for saying you kiss like an aardvark and a goat..."

Harry smiled in relief. "And I guess I can forgive you for yelling and laughing at me since you got Hermione to kick Parkinson in the-"

Hope's giddy laugh cut him off. "Oh my God, that awesome!"

"She said she's shocked her foot wasn't swallowed..." Harry told her and she let out a bark of a laugh.

"Oh wow! I might have to put her on my Christmas card list!"

"What list? I didn't get a card and we weren't even fighting then."

"Oh... well, if I make a Christmas card list I'll put her on it."

"What about me?"

"Maybe."

And just like that it was as if there hadn't been any animosity between them.

* * *

When Harry and Hope finally said good night, the girl returned to her dorm to find everyone fast asleep. Sighing, shrugged off her clothes now that it didn't hurt to get undressed. She had tried to change into her pajamas after coming back to Gryffindor Tower after the fight but her shoulder had hurt too much. She knew she should have gone to the hospital wing with Hermione but was too afraid to. Not of Millicent, but of what she might do.

Everything within her had called for her to charge to the hospital wing and rip that bitch to shreds. But, the sane part of herself had told her to stay in the dorm and pretend she was asleep, even when Lavender, Fey and Parvati had entered. She didn't need Parvati fussing over her, not when he instincts were on high. She couldn't go to the hospital wing. Millicent and those other bitches were there and she didn't want to risk anything. So she had stayed there until Hermione came back.

For a few moments she thought she had killed Millicent, ended a human life.

And for one moment... she had hoped she did.

A wave of self-loathing and revulsion rolled over her and whole body broke into a violent shudder. She tried to push back the memory of satisfaction at the thought of Millicent dying, seeing her slack face and that wild, dark part of her psyche screaming "YES!"

Swallowing, she pulled on her pajamas and slipped to bed, noting the absence of pain. After Harry had popped her shoulder back in place the muscles began healing immediately. It was probably the popped bones rubbing on her sinew the wrong way that kept them from healing correctly. Now it was as if she wasn't hurt at all. Though she would make sure to lie and say she went to Madam Pomfrey early in the morning. She didn't need people fluttering around her, not right now.

* * *

As the week went on things went back to normal though Harry was still lamenting the loss of his broom. However, he was still happy to be on speaking terms with Hope and Hermione again. Ron had also forgive them both, especially after Harry told him about the fight and what she did to Pansy.

"Oh God, Hermione! Did your foot sprout boils?!" Ron had quipped in Care of Magical Creatures while Hagrid's back was turned and Pansy shot them a withering glare.

"No... but I think the skin melted a bit..." she cracked.

Though, Hope had been a bit weird during the first few days, especially in Care of Magical Creatures and Potions. She made certain to sit as far from Millicent as possible. He also noticed she was having frantic, whispered conversations with Parvati who now seemed to make it her mission to steer Hope away from the Slytherins. But aside from that, she was mostly her goofy self. While waiting for Snape in Potions class Thursday, Harry, Dean and Hope were currently trying to tell the other third years about muggle movies (Hermione was the only one not joining the conversation as she was buried in her books)

"Do you fear death? Do you fear that _dark abyss?"_ Hope was doing an uncannily good imitation of Davy Jones from the _Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest._

"I know Hermione's foot did..." Ron muttered to Harry who choked but quickly hushed when Snape entered.

It also seemed Snape knew nothing of the fight. Probably because the Slytherins couldn't prove it or they would have had house points taken off. Though the rest of Slytherin house certainly knew, judging by the death glares Malfoy gave Hermione. It seemed the fight had repaired their relationship. Oh well, take the bad with the good. But, he had a sense of foreboding when he saw them whispering conspiratorially once class was over.

Also, it seemed Cho was acting a bit coolly around him lately but he figured it had to do with the fact they were going to be facing off against each other soon. While he still sat with her, he noticed she wouldn't readily sit extra close to him nor would she kiss him as much. Also his anti-dementor lessons weren't going any better though Lupin would tell him that he was only a fourteen year old wizard and this was highly advanced magic, the fact that he was able to produce anything was a feat in itself and to take heart that he was no longer faintin

"Harry... is something troubling you?" Lupin had asked him after shutting the trunk with the boggart inside "Aside from your misplaced self-consciousness over these lessons and nervousness about the match?"

Harry sighed and sat down one of the chairs. "Well..." he didn't really know how to voice his concerns as a lot of things were currently bothering him. When his mind flitted to Cho he felt his cheeks heat up and prayed Lupin hadn't noticed. The slight hum he made as well as twitch of his lips told Harry he did.

"Well, from what I recall, Harry, women are a rather complex bunch... especially when on opposing sides. Though I'm sure everything will be all right in that arena."

Somehow Harry wasn't surprised that the teacher knew about he and Cho. Were there no secrets in this school?

Wanting to change the subject, Harry asked a question he had been wondering for a while. "What's under a dementor's hood?"

Professor Lupin, who had pulled two bottle of butterbeer from his briefcase, paused. "Well, the only ones who know cannot tell s. You see, the dementors lower its hood only use its worst weapon: the Dementor's Kiss. I believe there may be a sort of mouth underneath because they clamp their jaws around the victim's and... suck out his soul."

Harry, who had just taken the bottle from Lupin, dropped it in shock. Lupin flicked his wand and it levitated to the table before crashing to the ground.

"What?! They kill-"

"Oh no, not kill. You can exist without your soul as long as your brain and heart are still working... unless you're a vampire, but that's something else entirely. But you will have no sense of self, no memory, no... anything. You're just an empty shell and your soul is gone forever."

Lupin flicked the caps off the bottles and took a drink of his own. "Its what awaits Sirius Black. The Daily Prophet reported that the Ministry of Magic has given the dementors permission to perform it if they find him.

Harry sat quietly, shocked mute at the horror of what he just heard. However, he imagined Black, him betraying his family, what he did and his mouth hardened.

"He deserves it."

"You think anyone deserves that?" Lupin asked lightly.

"Yes... Somethings shouldn't be forgiven..." However he didn't mention that he overheard what Black had done at the Three Broomsticks because he would have had to admit he had snuck to Hogsmeade without permission. So, he just thanked the man and left the class, his mind heavy with what he had heard.

However, after his lesson and on his way back to Gryffindor Tower, he was stopped by Professor McGonagall who was holding his Firebolt. Harry squelched the bit of hope that bloomed in his stomach.

"Er... Professor...?"

"We've done every test we can think og and there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it at all. You have a very good friend somewhere, Potter."

Harry's jaw dropped when she handed him the Firebolt and it still looked magnificent as ever.

"I can... I can have it back?" he asked breathlessly.

"Yes, you can" and she was actually smiling. "You'll need to get the feel of it before Saturday's match, Ptter. Please, do try to win or we'll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, or so Professor Snape was so kind to remind me last night." She then noticed something over Harry's shoulder and her smile widened. "And if we do win, I expect I most splendid Mallet Time from you, Mitchell."

"_When _we win, Professor, not it's_ Hammer Time" _Hope had corrected from behind Harry who was too stunned to correct the teacher's lack of knowledge of old muggle dances. Harry turned to see Hope who was now doing said _Hammer Time_ which looked ridiculous in her class robes.

"Right..." Professor McGonagall huffed though she was still smiling. "Well, don't do it now, save it for the match."

Hope had finally stopped dancing. "You actually got it back! Should I do the dance in the common room since we basically have it won now? Or should I think of a new dance? Maybe Gangnam Style!"

Harry grinned at the silly girl and made his way to the common room with her trotting behind him. "Y'know, it would be epic if we could have the music played after you win!"

Harry shook his head, completely elated. Hope was currently singing _U Can't Touch This_ next to him. When they turned a corridor, Ron had appeared happily, dashing toward them.

"Excellent! You got it back! Can I still have a go on it? Tomorrow? Hope, are you doing Mallet Time?"

"_Hammer Time!"_ both she and Harry said in exasperated amusement.

"Though... I'm wondering if I should do something else... maybe Daft Punk" she then began singing a song and the lyrics left Ron scandalized and Harry in stitches at the look on his face.

"_She's up all night to the sun  
I'm up all night to get some  
She's up all night for good fun  
I'm up all night to get lucky_

We're up all night to the sun  
We're up all night to get some  
We're up all night for good fun  
We're up all night to get lucky"

"You can't sing that! McGonagall would have a fit!" Ron protested red faced as they headed to the portrait where Neville was pleading with Sir Cadogan, the portrait who had replaced the Fat Lady following the Sirius Black attack.

"I wrote them down!" the boy pleaded tearfully. "I must've lost them!"

"A likely tale!" the little knight roared then spotted the three. "Good evening, my fine young yeomen. Good evening milady! Clap this loon in irons. He is trying to force entry into the chambers within!"

"Shut up!" Hope and Ron said simultaniously.

"Oddsbodikins" said Harry to the knight who looked disappointed but allowed the four entry.

The moment he stepped through Harry was surrounded with people who exclaiming over his Firebolt.

"Can I hold it, Harry?"

"Can I have a go?"

"Have you ridden it yet?"

"Ravenclaw doesn't have a chance!"

After a few minutes in which the Firebolt was passed around and admired, the crowd dispersed and the two had a clear view of Hermione who was sitting at a table, Hope speaking with her. The silly girl had managed to detach herself from them the moment the crowd erupted. Ron and Harry made their way over to her happily and Hope took that moment to excuse herself.

"Well, this calls for a pre-victory makeout session. I'm gonna find Fred." she then glanced at Hermione "Fyi, you mistranslated Hagalaz, it means 'hail' not 'hurricane' Hope said with a smirk and Hermione glared after her. It seemed there was still some rivalry in their relationship.

"I got it back!" Harry said happily and held up the Firebolt.

"There wasn't anything wrong with it!" Ron said.

"Well, there could have been!" Hermione huffed but seemed to think better of it. "But... at least you know there's nothing wrong with it..."

Ron offered to take Harry's broom upstairs and Harry pulled up a chair next to her. "I thought you and Hope were friends now..."

"We are... sort of..." she said in a high voice. "But she can't help being combative... so she makes certain to remind me of when things are wrong in class... Luckily the only classes I have with her are Divination and Ancient Runes..."

Harry figured it must've been one of those silly girl things he had no knowledge of and glanced down at the mess of papers littering her table. "How are you doing all of these classes?"

"Oh... Hard work..." she said absently and he noticed she looked as tired as Lupin.

"Maybe you should drop a couple of subjects?" he suggested and she looked at him as if he asked her to strangle a baby turtle.

"No, I couldn't!"

However at that moment there was a strangled yell echoing down the boys dorms and the whole common room fell silent. The a set of footsteps came, growing louder and louder and Ron came storming into view and he had a bedsheet with him.

"LOOK!" he yelled at Hermione, dragging the sheet to her table and shoving the sheets near her face. "LOOK!"

"Wha..."

"SCABBERS! LOOK!"

Hermione was looking throughly perplexed. Harry took a look and his stomach twinged at what was staining the white sheets. It looked a lot like-

"BLOOD! AND LOOK AT WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR!"

Hermione gasped and shrank back, frightened by the look on his face. It was near manic. Ron didn't wait for an answer and tossed something that landed on Hermione's face and chest. It looked a lot like ginger cat hairs.

Hermione's mouth fell open shakily. "I... well... maybe you should look under the beds of everyone... maybe Scabbers hid..."

Ron let out an incredulous roar and stormed back up to the boys dorms. Hermione went up the stairs after him and Harry followed. Everyone else gathered to the foot of the steps to listen to the warzone happening up stairs. They were so loud it was a wonder the other houses didn't hear them.

"SHE NEVER WATCHED THAT CAT! SHE ALWAYS BROUGHT HIM IN OUR BLOODY ROOM WHEN SHE SAID SHE'D KEEP HIM IN THE GIRLS DORMS!"

"Ron..." Harry tried calming the boy down.

"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT ME AS IF I'M NOT EVEN HERE! Ron-" she tried to try a level approach. "Ron, just look under all of the boys' beds! Or maybe there's a mouse hole that he's gone through-"

"THE BLOOD WAS ON THE SHEETS! SO WERE CAT HAIRS!"

"THOSE COULD'VE BEEN-"

"GET OUT! JUST GET OUT OF HERE! YOU BEING IN HERE IS AN INSULT TO HIS MEMORY!"

Downstairs Hope winced, "Well, that was melodramatic... I hope he doesn't tick her off too much. We have to sleep with her..."

Parvati and Lavender nodded in agreement.

"YOU RIGHT GIT! YOU'VE JUST BEEN PREJUDICED AGAINST HIM SINCE E LANDED ON THAT THICK HEAD OF YOURS!"

"Hermione-" Harry had began, still trying to calm them down. "I hate to say it, but all the evidence does point to-"

"OH OKAY! SIDE WITH RON! I KNEW YOU WOULD! EVERYTHING'S MY FAULT! FIRST THE FIREBOLT AND NOW SCABBERS!"

"BASICALLY!" Ron roared at her.

"SOD OFF, RON! SOD OFF!"

There were angry footsteps descending the stairs and a livid Hermione stormed to her tables, grabbed her books and headed to the girls dorms.

"So..." Hope said from next to Fred to break the awkward tension. "It would be in really bad taste for me to do Hammer Time right now, huh?

"Little bit," Fred nodded.

* * *

It was the next morning in Potions and Ron and Hermione were now sitting as far away from each other as possible, meaning Hermione was back sitting with the girls. Parvati and Lavender were trying to cheer Hermione up while Hope carefully stayed out of it. Though, she would have been lying if she were to say that she wasn't relieved to have a distraction from her wolf problems.

At that moment a few Slytherins entered, Pansy and Malfoy looking extremly pleased about something. They glanced around at the Gryfindor infighting and their smirks widened.

"What's wrong Weasley? Heard Granger's cat killed your rat... Don't worry, you can find loads more in filthy hovel you live in. Or maybe you can have the cat take care of that problem since its the only way you'll afford pest control... but that still leaves the mudblood."

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry hissed when Ron flared.

"He's just mad because Hermione's foot blew out his play place and now there's too much room..." Dean whispered to the others who broke into giggles.

"Giving her the benefit of the doubt, aren't you?" Harry smirked and the Gryffindors, except for Hermione and Ron, erupted with even more laughter as Pansy flared with wrath.

"Ohh, keep laughing, Potter..." Malfoy sneered. "It won't last long... All you need is a dementor to show up and-"

"Is that the best you've got?" Harry yawned.

"Oh, you don't know what I've got, Potter..."

"Sure, we do! Hermione's foot almost caught it but her shoes saved her!"

"Shots fired..." Hope giggled into her cauldron.

"Please, leave me out of this..." Hermione muttered, red faced.

"Yeah, let's leave her out of _everything_ until she gets rid of that ugly cat!" Ron hissed and Hermione sniffed and went back to her book.

Harry sighed, palming his forehead. He spent most of last night and the day trying to cheer up Ron, along with his brothers and Ginny. Though, Fred and George weren't much help as they said Scabbers had been looking off-color for ages and it was probably best that he died quick. However he managed to cheer him up a bit after suggesting he watch the team practice, even letting Ron have a turn on the Firebolt once it was over. However, while that had worked, it seemed he was still intent on giving Hermione grief about the death of his rat and was attacking anyone who was on Hermione's side.

"Ron, you're being a bit mean!" Lavender admonished and the boy flared.

"Lavender, I though you _knew_ how much she didn't care when other people's pets got _eaten!" _Ron said scathingly, reminding the girls of Lavender's dearly departed Binky who was killed by a fox.

Lavender's mouth fell open, then shut and she looked near ready to cry. Parvati and Hermione also looked horrified.

"Ron..." Harry admonished. That had been a bit harsh.

"What?"

Harry opened his mouth to say more but stopped when a shadow loomed over them both. Hope was now glaring over the both of them, face full of cold fury.

"You're gonna take that back," she told Ron in a calm voice that was scarier than when she was in a rage. "Apologize to Lavender now..."

"Oh shit... Hope..." Parvati had gotten out of her seat as well.

The class had gone quiet, the Slytherin boys sitting in giddy anticipation, hoping to see Ron get his ass handed to him by a girl.

Ron blanched but then glared. "Hope, go away."

"Make me."

"Guys..." Harry moaned. He had just gotten his Firebolt back and was on speaking terms with the girls and now this?

"I bet you ten Galleons a dust cloud flares up once she punches him..." Malfoy snickered to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Oh, so you're the only one who's allowed to get mad when your friend gets insulted?" Hope hissed, not noticing Parvati fumbling in her robes behind her. "Be a bigger dick, you asshole! That rat is probably counting his lucky stars in rat heaven now that he doesn't have a shitty person like you as a master, you whiny tampon-"

Hope went rigid and everyone turned to see Parvati had her wand drawn, muttered an incantation and had shot yellow light at Hope, hitting her in the back. The girl froze for a bit before breaking into a sudden giggle fit.

"D-did you just hit her with a Cheering Charm?" Seamus asked incredulously.

Parvati said nothing, only led a now giddy Hope back to her seat. The Slytherins, who were beside themselves over Hope's colorful string of insults and the indignant look on Ron's face, now pouted. Harry only shrank in his seat and felt a huge burst of gratitude toward Parvati for stepping in before it got ugly. If Hope had maimed Millicent then he already knew Ron didn't stand a chance.

While he wanted to admonish Hope for saying that to Ron, he was too happy being on speaking terms with her and if he was honest with himself, Ron sort of deserved it, but he wouldn't mention that to him.

When Snape finally entered the class, he arched a brow at the goofily smiling Hope but said nothing and began the lesson.

* * *

The day went on awkwardly. Harry, being torn between Hermione and Ron, was at a loss of what to do. Hermione now sat with the girls in the rest of her lessons and refused to even look in their direction. Ron mainly sulked at his desk, refusing to look at her. Also, Ron had once again aroused the ire of the rest of the third year girls over what he said to Lavender in Potions. Lavender was also sulking and Parvati sent him withering glares while it seemed Hope was trying to keep from huffing out scathing comments to the boy.

During meals, Harry, who was still trying to cheer Ron up, was back sitting with the Gryffindors. Honestly, he felt this was a good idea anyway as it was awkward sitting with Cho at the Ravenclaw table since the match was tomorrow. Cho, however, said nothing about him sitting with Gryffindor. In fact she wasn't saying much at all. He figured it was just nerves about the match.

Another thing he noticed was that while at lunch Hope wasn't there, due to having to write lines stating 'I will not flip off other students' due to Flitwick catching her flipping Ron off (the Cheering Charm Parvati had cast had at that point worn off), at dinner she was sitting with her friends, showing Lavender her comics. Although Harry felt a sense of foreboding when Ron began telling Fred what had happened in Potions and the older boy looked between his brother and Hope in shock.

"And now we have this..." Harry muttered into his plate, wondering if he should warn Hope. Probably best to stay out of it. He saw Hope get up and leave, probably for the common room before Defense Against the Dark Arts. Fred had given Ron a pat on the back and got up to follow her.

"Really, Ron?" Harry asked wearily. Ron just resolutely ate his food though seemed a bit pleased with himself.

* * *

"Hope, wait up!"

Hope was making her way back to the girl's toilets when she heard Fred's voice behind her. She turned and smiled but it faltered when she saw the grim look on his face. "What's up?"

"Hope, why did you have to say that to Ron?"

Hope's brows winged up at the indignant question from Fred. So that's what this was about? But she refused to back down. "Why did he have to be such a dick to my friend for no reason?"

"I think you should apologize."

Hope let out a disbelieving snort, feeling her snark rise. "Aunt Bex thinks I should behave like a proper lady and I don't do that shit just like I'm not apologizing."

She couldn't believe this shit was actually happening, that he was siding with Ron when he was the tool! Sometimes she was glad she was an only child because sibling solidarity was retarded, especially when one was clearly the fuck up.

"Careful, Weasley. Don't go pissing off your only source of income!" Malfoy smirked as he passed them in the halls, catching both of their attention.

"Shut up, you little prick! Go sit with that gaping hole you call your girlfriend!" Fred snarled after him.

"Speaking of gaping holes," Malfoy said easily "you think Mitchell's trying to avoid the one that would be in her wallet by not going to Hogsmeade with you? She probably knows you'd make her buy up the entire shops just so you can finally have nice things, new in the package."

Fred's ears went bright red in wrath, and Hope, not having the energy or patience to deal with this, stormed down a separate corridor. She didn't see the shocked look on Fred's face as she stormed off.

Hope entered the bathroom and slammed the door of the cubicle, fuming as she peed. Seriously! What kind of asinine shit was that!? After doing her business she went to wash her hands and froze when someone entered, fearing it might be a Slytherin but she calmed when she saw it was only Padma.

"Hey, you okay?" the Ravenclaw asked.

"You're all brainy and stuff, which is why you got into Ravenclaw. Tell me, why are boys such assholes!?"

Padma gave a small shrug, "Um... I don't know... Cedric's perfectly lovely so I couldn't tell you."

Hope huffed and relayed the entire story to her, complete with emphatic hand gestures and profanity.

"And he expects you to apologize when Ron was the one out of order?" Padma huffed, outraged.

"I know, right?! He's on some bull!"

Padma shook her head then paused, remembering something else. "Is it true Parvati hit you with a Cheering Charm."

"Mostly so we wouldn't get in trouble when Snape came in..." Hope lied easily. While she had been a bit pissed at Parvati for hitting her with a Cheering Charm, considering what had happened during the fight she had easily forgiven her.

"Oh."

The door to another cubicle opened as Hope came down from her rage high and someone left, but they saw it wasn't a Slytherin so they didn't care.

"Well.. I got Defense Against the Dark Arts then I'm going to bed..." Hope sighed "I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast."

Padma gave her a smirk. "Right, I'll make sure to comfort you once we slaughter Gryffindor in the match."

"Oh, is it opposite week all ready?" Hope grinned.

She made it to class and pointedly ignored Ron and sat with the girls, eagerly soaking up Lupin's lecture on vampires.

"Who can tell me their weaknesses?" Lupin asked the class.

A few people's hands shot up but he called on Ron. "Mr. Weasley."

"Sunlight, holy water, garlic, crosses..."

"So much wrong in the world, and half of it came from his mouth..." Hope muttered behind her book to Lavender who bit back a snicker.

"Care to add anything, ladies?" Lupin asked them lightly.

Hope and Lavender both flushed but while the blond ducked her head, Hope drew herself up. "Well, its actually vervain and not garlic they're allergic to. The cross and holy water thing is a myth."

"No, its not!" Ron cried indignantly.

"Actually, she's correct. Five points to Gryffindor, Hope."

Ron's mood went from bad to worse and he spent the rest of the lesson fuming while Parvati and Lavender both gave the boy irritatingly superior looks. Harry fought the urge to sigh.

"Well, why do they say that they're allergic to crosses and holy water!?"

"That's a good question. Theories, anyone?"

Hope wanted to raise her hand again but this was something she didn't know. She figured it had something to do with muggle movies and books and started to raise her hand. However it was Neville he called on.

"B-because vervain is called 'herb of the cross', sir? People might have gotten them confused..." the boy said shyly.

"Excellent! Another five points to Gryffindor!"

Neville flushed happily while everyone else was in shock. Even Hermione didn't know that. Hope was the first to recover, giving the boy a big smile.

"Epic, Neville!"

Harry also gave Neville congratulatory pat on the back. Ron sulked even more at having been shown up by not only Hope, but Neville and brooded the enter rest of the lesson.

Once it was over, the girls took their time packing their things and Ron brushed past her in a huff and Hope smirked, Parvati and Lavender giggling at her back. She could vaguely hear Harry trying to placate the redhead.

"Don't worry, Ron, it's not that big of a deal... Listen, practice is soon. Come out and watch, and you can take a ride on the Firebolt-"

"Really!? Can I shoot a few goals on it?" Ron asked as their voices faded.

"And fail at it..." Lavender hissed nastily. "Hope, can you teach me that summoning charm so I can summon a bludger to hit him when he tries?"

"That is not very lady like behavior..." Lupin chided from his desk and the girls flushed.

"Sorry, Professor..." Lavender mumbled as she and Parvati scuttled to the exit. Hope slung her bag over her shoulder but stopped her when she got up.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Hope," he began. "You know a lot of vampires and considering the way you handled that vampire over the holiday, I have to ask, do you come from vampire hunters?"

Hope blinked, not sure how to answer that. Considering cursed wolves were hard-wired to go after vampires, she supposed she was sort of descended from a variation of vampire hunters.

"Kind of... I learned a lot from my aunt." Now the thought of wolves had her voicing something she had wondered for a bit now. "Um..." she would have to think about how to go about this. "When Professor Snape was taking over your class that day you were sick and made us study werewolves..."

"Yes?" he asked, his expression now guarded. She also noticed Parvati tensing at the door. Lavender, it seemed was waiting in the hall going over her Divination homework and not paying attention.

"Well, I asked him about cursed wolves... and both he and Hermione said they were extinct and... I just wanted to know what you knew about them..."

Lupin's face cleared and he gave a thoughtful hum. "Well, there is a rumor that says the actual werewolf virus was derived from the cursed wolf as they were born with the gene."

Hope's eyes widened at this new information. "I never read that in the library..."

"It's probably in the restricted section..."

"Yeah... I was too miffed really do his essay, I read up on wolves a bit, and got ticked off, but I didn't do much else."

Lupin smiled a bit at that. "What made you ask this?"

"Wanna prove Hermione wrong." she said easily.

"I thought you two were friends now."

"I can get along with her and still wanna prove her wrong. You should see me and my aunt arguing about what's going to happen in TV shows."

"Ooh, that reminds me, I want come over in the summer and finish that show about the warrior princess!" Parvati said excitedly.

"That's Xena..." Hope said absently.

Lupin laughed at that. "I forget you're muggle raised at times. But, to answer your question, there was a legend that isn't widely known, that the wolf virus was derived from a cursed wolf. It's not known how it was done, or why, but most likely by a Dark Wizard. As for the cursed wolves, it is believed they are extinct because-"

"Vampires." Hope and Parvati said at the same time.

"Very good. Now, a bite from a bitten wolf will do nothing to a vampire, however a cursed wolf's bite is fatal. So, the vampires exterminated them. However, there was a rumor that some were alive in America and that rumor really fluctuated during the near end of Voldemort's reign."

"Why then?" Hope asked wide-eyed and ignoring the gasp Parvati gave, now sitting in the chair with her legs pulled up to her knees as she always did when hearing an interesting story.

"Well, most werewolves followed him, as he promised a better life for them against the Wizard Community."

"Racist douc-" she then clamped her hand over her mouth. "Sorry, sir..."

Lupin only smiled. "_Anyway_, right around that time, from what I understand, the werewolves were hearing accounts of a 'miracle child' about to be born to a cursed wolf as well as a vampire. Many discredited those rumors as vampires cannot procreate. Voldemort never took stock in it, figuring it was another rumor dark creatures started for their own gain, such as vampires starting the rumor that they are allergic to garlic when its really vervain. Its probably a good thing he did not believe the rumors as if he did he would have more than likely either killed the child without question, if he or she ever existed. The rumors were dispelled when there was a new rumor of the child's death. I have no idea how these rumors were started or where they got their information."

Hope had gone completely still, her mouth dropping open as she took this in. She figured the garlic thing was a myth started by vampires but she had no clue that bitten wolves had known about her. Not sure how to digest that information she simply grabbed her bag again, figuring her bed is what she needed.

"Wow... um... thanks, Professor... I better head back to the common room. But, thanks for the info."

"Not a problem. Good night, Hope. Paravati."

The two left the classroom and met up with Lavender who was now nose deep in Parvati's astrology book and made their way to Gryffindor Tower, stopping to blink in confusion when they saw Crookshanks slinking down the stairs. Upon entering, Hope pointedly ignored Fred who was leaving to head down to practice with the rest of the team, feeling annoyance shift in her stomach. He pointedly ignored her too and she heard a loud sigh from Katie as they left the portrait hole.

"Fred, I get he's your brother but why'd you have to get in the middle-"

The portrait had shut and she didn't hear the reply. Honestly, her mind was so full of what Lupin had told her Fred was the last thing on her mind. Apparently the bitten wolves knew about her? As she pondered this she watched the trees blowing gently in the wind, illuminated by the waning moon, and then her heart stopped and she bolted into a standing position.

"Parvati! C'mere! Look!"

Parvati, who was working on her Divination homework with Lavender went to the window and blinked. "I don't see anything..."

Hope blinked and peered harder out of the window, seeing nothing. Sighing, she sat back down to finish brooding. For a moment she could have sword she had seen the shadow of a Grim.

* * *

Practice had gone insanely well, the Firebolt inspiring the entire team. Harry noticed that Fred, who had been in a bit of a mood ever since following Hope out of the hall, was now his cheery self. Even Ron seemed to be in good spirits with the promise of riding the Firebolt once it was over. Madam Hooch had even gushed over the Firebolt as she oversaw their practice. Even Oliver did not have any criticisms.

Harry felt the euphoria who only felt while flying increase tenfold. The Firebolt rode better than he had ever dreamed, and when Oliver let the snitch out he caught it in ten seconds causing the team to go into a frenzy.

"Ravenclaw won't stand a chance!" Katie cheered.

"And neither will Harry's relationship with Cho," George muttered to Angelina who slapped his arm.

"Oh hush, I'm sure it'll be fine..." she said when Harry's stomach lurched. He'd momentarily forgotten about Cho.

"Can we not talk about relationships right now?" Fred grumbled as the rest of the team left, "I'm trying to keep my good mood..."

Harry sighed, shaking his head but handed the Firebolt to Ron who looked ready to faint with rapture once he mounted it. He flew it for the better part of an hour before Madam Hooch insisted they go back in the castle and head to their common room.

They were busily discussing how awesome the Firebolt was when Harry took a look to his right and nearly tripped over his own feet at the lurch of fear. A pair of eyes gleamed from the darkness.

He froze, fight or flight reflexes kicking on high as his heart thundered in his ear. However, after a moment a figure arose from the shadows and it was only Crookshanks.

Harry let out the breath he had been holding and continued to make his way to the castle, Ron still chattering about the Firebolt. For a moment he had thought he had seen the Grim.

**So, I'm not too pleased with this chapter and I feel its mostly a filler but I wanted to get something out before New Years. I'm trying to get as many chapters as I can out before the new mid season premiere of The Originals, and don't worry, they will be making more appearances as the story goes on and have more prominent roles. Right now, not too much going on...**


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Originals.

"_I still don't get why I have to learn any of this stuff..."_

_Hope sat grumpily on the couch, a pair of cut off shorts over her blue onepiece. She wanted nothing more than to go to the pool on this hot summer day but Aunt Bex had stopped her, dragged her to the couch and plopped a giant World Studies book in her lap and told her to read the first few chapters as well as answer the questions at the end of each chapter. _

_Rebekah sat down in the armchair across from her, legs crossed."Because, while you may be going to witch school, you still live in the regular world and you're going to learn about it. Or would you rather me take you out of Hogwarts completely and enroll you in a standard school where you would be two years behind?"_

_Hope's eyes widened and her stomach dropped. "No!"_

"_Then read the bloody book. And then you're moving onto science once you're done."_

"_Where'd you even get this?" Hope asked incredulously as she looked at the book. _

"_Kept it from Mystic Falls, it was my first time in high school so I was sentimental and kept all of my books."_

"_This is high school level! I'm only thirteen! Technically I'm supposed to be in eighth grade or something!"_

"_Don't worry, I've compelled a few teachers in the area to lend me some books for children your age as far as math and science, but as this is just a book on world issues, you can handle this. Read up now. And take those bloody headphones out of your ears."_

_Hope huffed and opened the book. "Why was that your only time in high school? You've been around forever. Why didn't you go in, like, the fifties or something?"_

_She thought she saw Rebekah stiffen but considered it a fluke when the vampire only smiled. "I was... just not interested at the time. Besides, it seemed highschool was much more fun to go to once the twenty-first century arrived."_

_Hope only shrugged and grudgingly read the book, not seeing the hard look on Rebekah's face._

* * *

It was the morning of the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match and everyone was feeling the excitement, well, everyone accept for one girl.

"Hope, are you coming to the match?"

"Huh?"

Hope had been lounging on her bed, mind going over everything that Lupin had told her the other night when the hangings around her bed were pulled back to show Lavender's puzzled face, a Gryffindor banner in one hand. "You're coming to the match, right?"

Honestly, Hope was so busy thinking that she completely forgot about the match. "Oh right.. that..."

After getting ready and heading down to breakfast, even among the hustle and bustle of everyone in the Great Hall eagerly awaiting the match, Hope still couldn't get into the spirit of it. Her mind kept bouncing over every single thing that was said.

_Cursed wolves were alive in America... and the bitten wolves heard about it... Okay, not too far-fetched... but they knew about me... And Voldemort would've wanted me dead if he had believed it... Why? And apparently cursed wolves are the reason bitten wolves exist in the first place... _

_And was that a Grim I saw last night? Nah... couldn't have been..._

She mulled over this as she poked her spoon through her cornflakes, so lost in thought that she didn't even note the applause that the Gryffindor table had went into upon the team's entering the Great Hall.

When the applause finally died down she felt a nudge at her side. "Wow, that was cold... Not that I blame you."

Hope looked up confused at Parvati. "Huh?"

"Um... the team, accept for Harry, just came in and you didn't even look up when everyone else at the table applauded..."

Hope's eyes widened a bit and she glanced over and noticed Fred had flicked his eyes to her but stubbornly turned to his teammates, though she noticed his ears were red. She nonchalantly went back to her food. "I honestly wasn't paying attention... but if he's still going to be a dick..."

Parvati and Lavender exchanged glances over Hope's head but didn't say anything. However, now Hope's mind was completely off of what Lupin told her and she was crunching her cereal angrily. _Stupid boys. _

"I should so not even show up..." she muttered, righteous indignation taking hold of her. "That'd show him to side with that moron brother of his..."

Lavender rolled her eyes but kept quiet while Parvati shook her head. Luckily they were saved from even having to reply when Harry, with his Firebolt, and what seemed like the rest of the third year boys (serving as some sort of royal guard) entered the Great Hall.

* * *

It was the day of the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match and the anticipation of it was highly felt in the throughout the school. In the Great Hall, people were gathering for breakfast, eagerly awaiting the match.

When Harry entered the Great Hall, he had the Firebolt over his shoulder, accompanied by the boys of his dorm. When he entered all heads turned and everyone began whispering excitedly though the Slytherin team looked quite ready to faint at the sight of it, a sight that made Harry smirk as he sat with the rest of the Gryffindor team.

He glanced at the Ravenclaw table, looking for the team. Cho was sitting next to the team captain, Roger Davies. He kept glancing back at Harry, mostly the Firebolt and then spoke rapidly to her. Probably going over strategies on how to best handle such a broom.

Wood had laid his Firebolt on the middle of the table so that the name pointed upwards and soon people from other tables, except Slytherin, were coming to get a better look.

"Congratulations on getting such a wonderful replacement, Harry," Cedric said genuinely.

"Wow... Cho wasn't lying..." Padma said from next to Cedric who had come to look as well.

"I'll console you after the victory party, Padma!" Parvati called from further down the Gryffindor table and Padma stuck her tongue out at her sister before both headed back to the Ravenclaw table.

He noticed Hope who was uncharacteristically quiet. He chanced a glance at Fred and he was busily tearing into his breakfast though his eyes flicked to her on occasion. Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes and inwardly wanted to smack them both, as well as Ron for good measure, for starting this sort of drama before the match. And everyone was harping on him to make up with her earlier and now this...

Getting up, he moved to sit next to Hope who was staring off into space while Parvati and Lavender chattered. "You don't look to be in a dancing mood..." he said with a light nudge to the arm.

Hope blinked and glanced at him, smiling easily. "I was just up all night thinking... Don't worry, I got my dancing shoes on."

"Try _not _to fall on anyone this time, Hope," Percy said stiffly as he and Penelope passed by.

"But, it's so fun though!"

"Hope..."

"It's done out of love!"

Percy sighed and shook his head, muttering to Penelope "And this is why she and my brother are perfect for each other."

At the mention of Fred, Harry noticed she stiffened but said nothing, only returning to her cornflakes and bacon. Also, the sight of Percy with his Ravenclaw girlfriend made him wonder about his relationship with Cho, the comment George made last night coming back to him. However Hope's shoulder bump brought him back to reality.

"Hey, buck up. No brooding before the match. You've got asses to kick."

"Wow, not even a good luck wish..."

"You don't need luck. You've got a Firebolt. Now go eat something. Remember what I told you first year... Go eat or I won't Hammer Time."

Lavender and Parvati looked up from their conversation at that. "Harry, go eat!"

"All right, I'm going..."

"Good luck!" Parvati and Lavender called and he smiled in thanks and returned to the team.

When he returned George gave him an elbow. "What'd she say about this git?" he asked, gesturing to Fred.

"Er..." Harry had a feeling he probably shouldn't say she didn't say anything about him. Luckily he was saved from having to answer when a certain Slytherin pain came up to the table.

"Sure you can handle that broom, Potter?" Malfoy asked, eying the Firebolt.

"Pretty sure."

"I know comes with a lot of special features. Does it come with a parachute in case you get too close to a dementor?"

"Does yours have an extra arm so it can catch the snitch for you?" Harry smirked back and Malfoy scowled before smirking coldly.

"Well, in that case... I hope it also has a comfort feature for when Chang leaves you."

"Is that the best you can do?" Harry asked in a bored voice though Malfoy's words struck a chord.

"A question everyone has asked Chang since she hooked up with you," the pale boy drawled and Harry stiffened then arched his brows.

"Says the one who had to buy his way onto the team with seven Nimbus Two-Thousand Ones? I think those brooms are clearly compensating for something... Poor Parkinson."

The Gryffindor team all burst into whoops and cackles while Malfoy bristled and stormed away back to the Slytherin table. That's when Wood announced it was time for the team to get ready and head for the pitch. After heading to the locker rooms the team quickly changed into their Quidditch robes. The weather was perfect, cool and not a cloud in the sky and no wind. They headed to the field and were met with a roar of applause. Ravenclaw's team were already on the field and when his eyes met Cho's and he smiled at her, her smile seemed sort of forced. Was facing off against him really that nerve wracking for her?

"Captains, shake hands." Madam Hooch told them and Wood and Davies shook hands.

"Mount your brooms... Three, two, one..."

* * *

"So, did you and Fred at least make up before the match?"

Hope sat in the stands, adjusting the high ponytail she wore, complete with red and gold scrunchies. "Erm... no. Honestly, I kind of forgot about the fight after that stuff Lupin told us yesterday... but I'm still not apologizing to Ron. He was being a total dick."

Parvati made a noncommittal noise as she watched the teams come out onto the field. She had also noticed that Hope had seemed to be off in another world since yesterday. She was usually so bouncy the morning of a Quidditch match but this time she was rather quiet and introspective. Parvati supposed that she would be too if she found out what she found out had she been a cursed wolf. Speaking of that, Parvati was rather hard pressed to try and keep Hope from snapping on people but considering she saved her life, she would do it with a smile on her face. Luckily now the moon was waning so that temper thing was starting to die down.

"Hi, Parvati. Hi, Hope."

The girls looked up to see Hermione looking more worn than ever, coming to join them.

"Dude, what did I tell you about heroine-chic not being sexy?" Hope muttered to the girl right when the whistle sounded.

Hermione looked about nervously. "Hope, are you sure you should be at the match? What if the dementors come?"

Honestly, Hope hadn't given one thought to the dementors due to her boyfriend drama and family discoveries. Now that it was out there she felt her stomach lurch at the idea of dementors coming onto the field again and her going all suicidal headcase. So not a good look.

"I don't think the dementors will come back," Lavender said, noting Hope's scared expression. "Remember how mad Dumbledore was last time?"

"That's true..." Hermione said and Parvati huffed.

"Can't we all just watch the match? I have to rub my sister's face in Ravenclaw sadness and I can't do that if I'm unable to pay attention."

Hope was more than happy to do that and the others complied. They watched the match eagerly and Hope's mind finally left the realms of stupid boyfriends, Grims, dementors, and cursed and bitten wolves. Her mouth fell open as she watched Harry on his Firebolt, She didn't know much about brooms other than what the boys had tried to explain to her (she did the muggle girl thing when men began talking about cars and zoned out) but even she was impressed by the Firebolt, especially the way Harry flew it. Harry had always been a superb flier and now it seemed more so, such as really good horse rider on the back of a brilliant black stallion as opposed to a mid sized mare. She even found herself being more interested in Lee's silly commentary that included tidbits about the Firebolt (to which McGonagall constantly griped at him and told him to commentate on the match.)

She watched as Cho on her slower broom tailed Harry and shook her head. "Lazy ass... Can't even look for the snitch herself."

Parvati and Hermione bit back snickers and then burst into cheers as Katie scored the first goal of the match. Then they saw Harry dive. He'd seen the snitch!

"GO HARRY! WOOO!" Hope cheered.

Cho dived after him but Harry was farther ahead. Hope squealed and she and Parvati bounced in their seats. He was getting close-

and then he had to veer off to avoid a bludger.

The Gryffindor side moaned in disappointment as the Ravenclaw side roared in applause. The game went on as normal, Gryffindor was in the lead, McGonagall was yelling at Lee for continuously advertising the Firebolt. Then Harry zoomed, seeing the snitch and Cho zipped right in front of him and he broke hard to avoid crashing into her.

"Damn... I hate to admit it, but that was good..." Hope snickered.

However, she saw Harry fly into the air above the game and Cho had followed him. He then dove, and so did she, then he did a sharp turn and rose up while her slower broom was still hurtling downward. Then there was a collective gasp in the stands and Parvati shrieked, pointing down.

Three tall, black dementors stood at the bottom of the field, looking up at the game, standing on the field.

Hope paled, stomach dropping at the sight of them and flinched when Lavender and Parvati both grabbed her arms, holding her wrists away from her body and somehow Hermione had managed to seize Hope's wand, but Hope wasn't having an episode. She felt nothing. Was it because they were too far away at the bottom of the field?

Then, something huge and silver shot from the sky and charged the dementors to the ground. Hope broke away from them and rushed to the edge of the stands to get a better look at what it was. It looked like a large, silver hoofed animal but then Lavender squealed happily and pointed up and Hope followed what she was pointing at and shrieked happily. Harry's hand had closed over the snitch.

"YES!" Hope cheered then squealed when Dean, who was behind her, lifted her up to the top of the stands.

"HAMMER TIME!"

* * *

As Harry was hugged hard by the whole team in mid air he heard Wood laugh happily and point at the stands. Hope was now doing the Hammer Time at the top of the stands, nearly fell as usual, only to be caught by a laughing Hagrid and set back down. When they finally made it to the ground, they were caught up in the flood of Gryffindor supporters and given congratulatory pats on the back.

"Brilliant, Harry!"

"Good job!"

"Excellent!"

Harry beamed, so glad that not only had he won the match but the dementor did not affect him at all. He saw Professor Lupin who looked a bit shaken as well as pleased.

"An excellent Patronus, Harry..."

"I didn't feel anything at all!" Harry said happily.

"Well... about that... They weren't dementors, they were-"

"Wow, what a bunch of lamer losers!" Hope's voice cut over the crowd.

Lupin smirked at that and led Harry out of the crowd toward the edge of the field. What he saw had his mouth dropping open and he shook his head without realizing it. In a crumpled, disoriented heap lay Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Flint, their team captain, tangled in long, hooded black robes. Malfoy seemed to have his legs knotted in Goyle's robes as if he were standing on his shoulders. Professor McGonagall was standing over them, seething and Hope was next to her doing what looked like the Moonwalk.

"Fifty points from Slytherin and detention for all of you and-Mitchell, stop that!"

Hope shrugged and skittered back to the crowd, giving the Gryfindor team girls high fives as she passed. Harry shook his head again and laughed heartily, heading back to the crowd and hoping this remained forever in his memory. It would make for a wonderful Patronus should the need ever arise again.

* * *

Later in the Gryffindor common room, the victory party was in full swing. There was food brought by Fred and George after they disappeared for an hour and returned, obviously from Hogsmeade. Someone was playing a magical wireless radio that played music by the popular wizard group the Weird Sisters (which Hope had to admit she rather liked though she'd kill for her iPod and some speakers.)

Hope happily chatted and partied, happy to have a distraction for what was plaguing her mind all day. However every now and again her eyes lifted and met Fred's and just when she would think of making peace, especially after how well he played, he looked away from her and would resume juggling butterbeer bottles with George. Feeling like she just received a kick in the gut, she turned and ducked into a different part of the crowd and leaned against the wall, huffing miserably.

Deciding she did not want to party anymore, she went up to the girl's dorm and flopped onto her bed, pulling out one of her comics. Soon she was sucked into the adventures of the Endless however it didn't last long when the dorm door burst open and a sobbing Hermione came barreling in.

"What happened?" Hope asked though she had a feeling it had to do with a douchebag redhead. There was a lot of that going around today.

"Bloody Ron..." the girl sniffled and then relayed what had happened downstairs. "I was trying to study... and Harry asked me to join in the party and right then Ron goes on, loudly, that Scabbers loved Fudge Flies and he would've enjoyed them if he hadn't just been eaten..."

Hope's mouth dropped open. "Really? He said that in front of everyone? Did anyone tell _him_ off?"

Hermione wiped angrily at her eyes, sniffling. "I don't know. I left in a hurry..."

That familiar wrath coiled itself around her like an old blanket and she stood. "We're headed back down."

Hermione, who had tried to read her giant text book, looked up in shock. "What?"

"We're going back down. I came up here because Fred's being an asshole... and you came up here because Ron's being an asshole... Who died and made them overlords of the party?"

"Hope, this really isn't-"

"I'm going down there, and I'm going to party it up. And so are you. He doesn't want you to join in, so you hop on the table and table dance."

"What!?"

"Not literally, now come on..." Hope didn't even wait for a reply, she just grabbed the other girl by the arm and yanked her down the stairs into the common room.

Downstairs, Harry was happily enjoying the party though earlier Ron had sent Hermione off in tears. However, he had glanced toward the girls dorms and had a sinking feeling when Hope stormed into the party, Hermione in tow. The bushy haired girl looked ready to bolt back up the stairs but Hope wouldn't let her.

"Dude, no... He doesn't run shit! And you don't run from shit!"

"And now this is happening..." Harry muttered.

Hope sauntered to the food table and smiled at Ron and grabbed two bottles of pumpkin fizz along with, and Harry mentally sighed, two packs of Fudge Flies... He didn't think it was a coincidence that she grabbed those, especially since Ron had mentioned those specific treats when making Hermione cry.

She handed one of each to Hermione before opening her own. She poured herself a hand full of Fudge Flies and crunched them loudly while keeping her eyes on Ron, then took a swig of pumpkin fizz to wash them down. "Mmm... om nom nom. So tasty."

Ron's ears went red and he glared hard at both girls before storming off. Hermione nervously opened her drink while Hope leaned against the table with a smug look.

"Hope, are you starting trouble again?"

The group turned to see Parvati giving her a scrutinizing look. Hope only shrugged. "Just refusing to run from a party because certain people don't want us here..."

"Who doesn't want you here?" Now Lavender had come to join the group as well.

"Ron doesn't want Hermione to join in..."

Lavender's brows rose, she looked over at Ron who was now sulking and she scoffed. It was clear Lavender was still pissed about Ron's mean comment about her rabbit yesterday for she handed Hermione a Peppermint Toad. "Oh really? Well, in that case party up."

"He's such moody jerk..." Parvati muttered into her own bottle of pumpkin fizz. "It's because he's a Picses..."

"And here we go..." Hope muttered with an eye roll as if she was used to this.

"Didn't he have a birthday recently?" Lavender asked.

"Yeah, in February..." Harry answered and Hermione gasped.

"Oh no, I totally forgot his birthday..."

"Hey, he was being a git then and being a git now... That's why he can't have nice things." Parvati said wisely and Hope snorted.

"I was about to say something really mean... but I'll be good..." Hope snickered.

"No, what?" Lavender asked eagerly.

Something crashed to Harry's side and his attention was diverted from the girls but it was returned when he heard Lavender and Parvati gasp while Hermione looked scandalized.

"Hope, that's so mean!" Parvati managed through giggles.

"But true..." Hope smirked.

"Hope... I think that was probably-" Hermione started but she was cut off when Fred had came up to the group.

"Hope, let me talk to you for a minute." his hand closed around her wrist and she gasped as Fred tugged her out through the portrait hole.

Still inside, Harry and Hermione just exchanged uneasy looks. "I think I'll... just go upstairs..." and she headed to the girl's dorms.

Sighing, Harry moved over to Ron. "Why can't you just give her a break?"

"No." Ron said flatly, glaring into his butterbeer. "If she only acted like she was sorry about Scabbers but she'll never admit she's the one that's wrong. And then Hope keeps butting in- And what was she saying about me anyway?"

"I don't know, I didn't hear. But Ron... You made Lavender cry first... for no reason. She shouldn't have called you those names but you didn't have to say that to her friend."

"Oh! So you're on her side!"

"You're all stupid, I'm not any of your sides!" Harry yelled, finally fed up with it all.

Ron's ear went bright red and he stormed off to the food table while Harry growled in frustration and sat down on the couch next to Colin Creevy.

"Hey, Harry, great game!"

"Thanks..." he said though his good mood was thoroughly killed. Deciding he wanted some alone time, he stood and headed for the portrait hole where outside, halfway down the steps he found Hope and Fred having a row.

"I was thinking about trying to make up with you but screw it! Your brother's an asshole, and you're an asshole for asking me to apologize to him when he was the one being a twat-rocket!"

"Don't talk about my brother like that!"

"Tell him to stop being a twat-rocket and I will!"

Fred's ears went red with anger. And he took a deep breath to keep from losing his temper. "You know what, Hope? Your bloody awful temper and all of your... issues, I tried to deal with it and I just... You know what? We are on a break."

Hope recoiled as if smacked and before she could even reply he had turned and left, brushing roughly past Harry as he went back into the portrait hole.

Harry stood awkwardly as Hope gave a shuddering breath and had burst into tears, but instead of going back to the common room she stormed down the stairs.

"What kind of man leaves a lady in such distress?"

"Eh?" Harry turned to look at Sir Cadogan who had puffed himself up proudly.

"That loon has no need of a spirited lady as she! And what sort of yeoman to the house of Gryffindor would you be if you were to let a lady run off in such distress?"

And of course, the other portraits seemed to want to add their opinions and soon a heated debate began on which was right in the row.

"She was defending a friend!"

"He was defending his brother!"

"She's too young for him, anyway."

"Oh my God..." Harry groaned and headed down the steps after Hope, mainly to get away from their bickering. However he soon saw her coming back up, wiping her eyes.

"I'm not letting that ass-douche chase me from a party! I'll just take the party somewhere else!" she declared hotly.

"Good for you, my lady! Next time find yourself a proper man! Like this fine lad here!" Sir Cadogan gestured at Harry who just gaped incredulously.

"Oh shut up!" she grumbled at the portrait and gave the password and she entered the tower, Harry following closely behind.

Parvati suddenly appeared. "Hey, Dean wanted me to ask if he could borrow one of your comics?" She then stopped when she saw the tear. "Are you okay?"

"Fred said they're on a break," Harry whispered to her and her eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm sorry... Well, he's being a git. Come on, let's finish upstairs. I'll put a Cheering Charm on you if you want..."

Harry let the girl lead Hope up the stairs to the girls dorm and debated on rejoining the party. Instead he headed back out of the portrait hole to get at least an hour of quiet time considering his party mood was completely dead. He walked around the school for a bit, noting it was nearing dinner time and the other houses were heading down to the Great Hall to eat.

"Good game, Harry..."

Harry looked up to see Padma Patil giving him a smile and he smiled back in thanks.

"Thanks..." He then remembered she was also a close friend of Hope's and figured he could at least warn her of the incoming storm. "Hey, wait." She paused and turned curiously. "Listen... don't tell anyone but... Hope and Fred sort of split."

Padma's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "What? Why? Was it over that stuff with Ron?"

"Basically..."

Padma made a noise he found only an angry girl could make. "Wow... well, thanks for telling me." She then turned to leave but he stopped her again.

"Er... have you seen Cho?"

When Padma gave a wince he felt his stomach drop. "Is she upset about the match?"

"No... Not the match..." Padma said uneasily.

"Then what?"

"I'll... let you talk to her about that. She's in the Hall."

Harry walked into the hall, his own table empty as everyone was at the party. He noticed with satisfaction that the Slytherin table was minus Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe and Flint. They were probably still in detention. The Ravenclaw table regarded him nonchalantly, apparently not having hard feelings about the match, some of the team even nodding at him. He noticed one other Gryffindor, and that was Percy, who was sitting with Penelope. Apparently he had left the party early and had even brought her some butterbeer and Honeydukes sweets. Moving to the Ravenclaw table, he tapped Cho on the shoulder. When she turned, she regarded him coolly.

"Hello, Harry..."

"Can we talk outside?" he asked, hoping that what he witnessed with Fred and Hope was not an omen for his own relationship.

The two entered the hallway, and they went into the same classroom where they had that mind blowing kiss. Her eyes shifted away from him and he sighed. "Cho, what's going on?"

"What makes you think anything's going on?"

"Well, you've been acting weird all week."

Cho turned her accusatory eyes on him. "I knew you and Hermione were close, but I always thought she liked Ron Weasley. Then you just run off to the hospital wing after I told you what happened after not talking to her for a month, then I hear you're all snuggled up and giggling in the hospital room-"

"Whoa! Hold on, we're just friends," and he was so relieved that he finally knew what was wrong with her that he laughed but that was the wrong thing to do for she stormed out of the classroom, tears running down her face.

"Well go be with her then!" and like that she was gone.

Harry stood there in shocked silence, staring at the empty classroom for a few moments before thought and movement finally returned to him and he made his way back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Harry, is everything all right?"

Harry was halfway through the halls when he heard Professor Lupin's voice behind him. He turned to face the older man and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Hi, Professor..."

"I would have thought you would be in the common room celebrating your victory. Is something wrong?"

The knowledge that Cho had, unless he was highly mistaken, left him finally sank in and a huge knot twisted in his stomach and his chest tightened. However, he wasn't sure he wanted to tell Lupin that. "I... just wanted to get some dinner..." he said lamely.

Lupin seemed to know he was full of crap but didn't comment on it. However someone else did comment on it.

"Potty got dumped! Potty got dumped!"

Harry flushed bright red and sent a withering glare at the poltergeist bouncing above them. "Shut up, Peeves!"

Peeves cackled and floated away and Harry glanced warily back at Lupin who had winced in sympathy. "I'm sorry to hear that... And I'm sorry that Peeves is probably spreading it to the entire school as we speak..."

Harry groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Why are girls so difficult!?"

At that Lupin cracked a smile. "A question that has baffled men since the dawn of time."

"I mean, if they're not losing their minds over something completely untrue they're going batty over everything else!"

Lupin just gave a sigh, "Well, Harry... I'm not sure what to tell you except that it will all work itself out. In the mean time, if I were you, I would go back to the party, celebrate the magnificent Patronus I had just conjured as well as a match well won and try to have some fun before Monday and the flood of gossip..."

"And why are girls always gossiping?" Harry grumbled as he grudgingly made his way to the common room.

"I think the question is why are the ghosts always gossiping..."

* * *

When Harry returned to the common room the knot in his stomach had not loosened in the slightest. He tried enjoying the party and had even made up with Ron, who seemed to be in a much better mood. But he couldn't take his mind off of Cho and what just happened. It was hard to believe that just an hour ago everything was going so well, and now he was miserable.

But, it seemed misery loved company for Hope had returned to the party, puffy-eyed and sulky, and flopped on the couch next to him. "Relationships suck..."

"Yep." He agreed.

She gave him a side glance. "You and Cho having issues?"

"She dumped me because she thought I was cheating on her with Hermione."

Hope's brows rose and let out a laugh. "So... both of our older crushes are idiots... awesome."

While he had no clue Cho was so crazy, he felt Fred did have a valid point."Maybe you should just apologize to Ron... Not for standing up for Lavender but for whatever you called him."

Hope didn't even blink. "Nope. I'll apologize when I'm actually sorry. Why does everyone want me to lie?"

Harry sighed. Can't say he didn't try.

Her eyes shifted to Fred who was talking animatedly with Wood, probably about the match, and her lip turned up in a scowl. "Asshole..."

Oddly enough, Hermione, giant textbook in hand, had returned to the party and sat on the couch between them. "Hope... maybe you should just come upstairs... you're obviously not having fun... What's the point of being here if you're not having fun? To prove a point?"

"Yep," the other girl said stubbornly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Bloody hell, you're stubborn..."

"I'm a Taurus..." Hope said automatically with a humorless smirk.

"That explains the temper..." Harry muttered.

"Bite me."

"You'd like it too much then I'll never get rid of you..."

Now both he and Hope actually cracked genuine smiles. "Ass..." she said with a shove to his arm.

"You two are so weird..." she muttered, "Hope, at least come down to dinner with me. You keep telling me heroine-chic is not a good look, well neither is gorging on candy to eat your feelings..."

Hope's mouth fell open but she got to her feet. "Okay, I'll give you that one..." She turned to Harry. "You coming?"

The idea of going to the Hall where they were all gossiping about him did not appeal to him. "You two go ahead..."

The moment the two of them left, Ron had come to take their vacated spots. "So Percy just got back and told me that Peeves was floating around dinner saying you and Cho split. Is that true?"

"Can we please talk about something else?" Harry groaned.

When Ron decided to go over the highlights of the match, Harry could not have been more pleased.

They had been discussing the match for the better part of the party. Hope and Hermione had returned and the bushy haired girl had to lead a sick-looking Hope up the stairs. "You really did not have to eat so much food, Hope. Really? How many sliced of roast beef did you have? And all of that pie!"

"Oh, shut up..." Hope moaned and nearly tackled a first year girl in her mad dash to the bathrooms, much to the amusement of some onlookers.

The party finally ended at one in the morning when McGonagall had shown up with her hair in a net and a tartan dressing gown.

"It's one in the morning. You celebrated enough. Go to bed, all of you."

The common room emptied as everyone made their way to the dorms. Harry noticed Fred glancing back in the direction of the girl's dorms every now and again, probably looking for a certain high ponytail, but Hope had long since succumbed to her overindulgence and hadn't been seen for hours. However he noticed her best friend, Parvati, curled up on the couch, passed out.

When he finally got to his dorm and collapsed on his bed, shutting the hangings to block out a ray of moonlight and fell right to sleep.

* * *

That was the absolute last time she ate her feelings to such a degree.

Hope moaned as she flushed the toilet for what seemed like the thousandth time in that stretch of a few hours. When she had gone down to dinner with Hermione, she had made a beeline for the roast beef and chicken. The bushy haired girl had warned her about eating too much too fast, much like her aunt did when she was home, but of course, she wouldn't listen. So, she piled food onto her plate to give her face something to do other than cry. But, that turned out badly as she spent the next few hours perched on the porcelain throne with a griping tummy ache.

And that reminded her of how she normally dealt with a griping tummy ache. After she got off the john, she would curl up in Fred's bed, snuggled with him while he shook his head at how much she scarfed down.

Tears welled back into her eyes. Maybe she shouldn't have flipped out so badly on Ron... She could have just called him an asshole... saying that his rat was better off dead than with him was a bit of a low blow...

The sound of her dorm door opening and the telltale yawn of Lavender caught her attention. "Lav?" she called.

"Don't mind me, I'm just going to see if there's any chocolate downstairs."

Only one reason for a girl to want chocolate at one-thirty in the morning, other than heartbreak. "There's chocolate in here, I think..."

"I'll go in there when its safe to breathe..."

"Oh shut up!"

* * *

Harry was having a bizarre dream. He was out, at night with his Firebolt over his shoulder there was something that he was chasing through the woods, it silvery-white and he heard the pounding of hooves. It moved extremely fast and he could only catch glimpses of it between the trees.

Harry turned and behind him was a place that looked oddly familiar. The light of the full moon shown down in an ancient, mystic temple. Two statues of a creature with the body of a man and the head of an ibis, both holding what he knew to be ankhs, stood tall and near them were two canines. One was a black dog, sitting regally and the other was a wolf, his head tilted up in a howl. They both sat on stone cubes engraved with upside down triangles that were suspended in water and their necks were chained together by a gold chain that sported what he knew was the triple moon symbol. A small crab swam about the pool freely.

Sitting on a stone slab at the edge of the mystic pool was a woman. Her back was to him and her dark hair was in an elegant twist with gold weaving through it and a strange downward pointing crown. She also wore gold bands high on her forearms. To his embarrassment that was all she was wearing.

"Y'know... you kind of suck at hunting... but so do I... but I won't for long..."

The wolf growled and the girl took her hair from its knot, shook the gold from it and proceeded to pull it into a high ponytail.

Then the sound of hooves sounded and he forgot completely about the girl and chased after his quarry, leaving the temple behind. He was gaining up on it, gaining speed as it gained speed-

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Harry jolted awake in total darkness, a terrified scream shocking him from his slumber. The sound of the dorm door slamming alerted him even more and he fumbled for the opening of his hangings right when Dean lit his lamp.

"What's going on?" Seamus asked just as Harry stumbled out of bed to see a pale, quivering Ron sitting upright in bed.

"S-Sirius Black! With a knife!" He pointed at the hangings around his bed which were slashed. "He slashed the curtains..."

A shriek, this time a girl's, sounded from the common room and the boys heads all whipped in the direction of the door. Harry reached the door first and they all sprinted down the staircase. The common room was still littered with the debris of the party and, there lying on the floor, was Lavender Brown, hand clutching her blond head. She was bleeding.

"Lav!"

Hope come down the girl's stairs, going pale at the sight of her friend. Both she and Harry went to help Lavender to her feet. "Did you trip? What happened?" She then turned to Harry "I heard screaming. What happened?"

"Are we carrying on?" Fred asked brightly as he and George came down the stairs.

"Everyone get back upstairs!" Percy ordered as he pinned his Head Boy badge

"Sirius Black attacked me!" The girl shrieked at Percy.

"You too?" Ron gasped. "He came in our dorm! With a knife! Woke me up!"

"Ron..." Percy said, looking startled "You must have had a nightmare..."

"All right, this is enough!"

Professor McGonagall had returned and sent a furious glare across the common room. "While I'm happy that Gryffindor won the match, this is getting ridiculous. Percy, I would have expected better of you!"

Percy huffed indignantly. "I did not authorize this, Professor! My brother had a nightmare-"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE! SIRIUS BLACK WAS IN OUR DORM WITH A KNIFE!"

The older woman stared at him. "Nonsense, Weasley..."

"But I saw him too!" Lavender cried, "I came down here to see if there were any leftover chocolates and he came running from the boys dorm right after Ron screamed. I tried to run but he grabbed me and threw me across the room. Look!" she pointed to her bleeding forehead.

"Brown... what-"

"Ask him!" Ron said pointing to the back of Sir Cadogan's portrait and Lavender nodded frantically in agreement. McGonagall eyed them both suspiciously but her eyes kept flicking to Lavender's cut as if she were hoping it were just a product of her own clumsiness. She then went outside to converse with the portrait while every held their breath to listen.

"Sir Cadogan, did you let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"

"Why, yes, good lady!"

Everyone, both inside and outside, froze in shock.

"But-" McGonagall stuttered once she found her breath "The... the password!?"

"He them, milady! Had the whole week's and red them off a little piece of paper."

When the portrait hole opened again and McGonagall entered the common room she was pale as a ghost. When she spoke to the shocked crowd her voice shook. "Which person... Which _foolish_ person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around."

Complete, shocked silence was broken by the smallest of frightened squeaks. The crowed parted and Neville Longbottom, shakingly rose his hand into the air.

* * *

Gryffindor Tower did not sleep at all that night. They all stayed awake in the common room as the castle was searched.

Lavender, who had not wanted to go to the hospital wing due to being terrified, had gotten the cut on her head healed by Percy. (Apparently being the butt of many jokes at the hands of the twins had caused him to learn a few simple healing charms) And now she sat between Hope and Parvati, glancing around fretfully. Ron was no better off as he sat with the boys of his dorm. When McGonagall finally did return at dawn it was to tell them that Black had escaped again.

"However, you all must get some sleep. He's no longer in the castle so there is no threat as of now..."

"But, Professor... What are you going to do to see that he's caught?" Ginny had asked from Ron's side.

The older woman sighed. "We're going to do all that we can..." and then she left the common room.

* * *

After leaving the Tower, Minerva had found Professor Dumbledore in his office. During the walk there her mind had gone over every possibility for extra safety and, unbidden, her mind kept bringing her back to one option she was loathe to try but now seemed there was little alternative, especially if it would hasten Black's capture.

"Professor... May I speak with you?"

"Certainly, Minerva," the headmaster said graciously.

The woman cleared her throat. "I... have a proposal..."

* * *

"Rebekah... Rebekah, I need to speak with you-oh my!"

When Minerva had apparated into the Original's living room and hadn't found her there, she figured she must have been asleep. So, she had entered the woman's bedroom in a frantic search for her only to find the blond was... busy.

"Bloody hell, woman! Can't you ring the doorbell like a normal person!?

While Rebekah was not shy by any means, it was a bit awkward to have a woman you considered a friend barging in right when you were in the midst of getting laid. The young human she had seduced had rolled out of the bed, covering his crotch with a pillow whiel Minerva whirled around so as not to see anything more, though it was too late for that.

"Oh... shit... is that your grandma?"

"No..." Rebekah said exasperatedly.

"Grandmother?!" Minerva bristled indignantly.

Rebekah turned to the boy. "Look, Sean..."

"Sam!"

"Whatever..." she pulled him down s he was at eye level. "You won't remember this. Get dressed and forget about me as well as her. Go home."

The young man just nodded dumbly and got dressed, walking past a blushing Minerva without a second glance. Rebekah sighed and got out of bed to pull on a silk robe. "So, you're here at the crack of dawn. That can't be good. What's going on? Is Hope all right?"

Minerva chanced a glance over her shoulder and was relieved to see the vampire was covered. "Hope is just fine. However, Sirius Black has gotten into the castle. He harmed a girl in his escape. I believe you're familiar with Lavender Brown. She's fine, only a scratch," she said when Rebekah's eyes widened. "However... we're growing desperate... and Professor Dumbledore wishes to extend an invitation."

"I'm listening."

"From now until sundown, we would like for you to help us search for Sirius Black."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Give me two minutes to wash the sex off," and she made her way to the bathroom, ignoring the furious blush on Minerva's face.

If anything could be said for vampire speed it was how wonderful it made simple matters, even more efficient than magic at time. Rebekah had showered and dressed in little under a minute. "All right, how are we doing this? I trust we're not going to King's Cross..."

"All right, take my hand."

Rebekah took Minerva's hand and gasped when everything went black. She was being yanked and pressed from all directions, her eyes being forced back into her skull as were her eardrums.

It last a second, it lasted forever and when the world returned she was standing on the edge of a charming little village.

"Welcome to Hogsmeade," Minerva said and gave a side glance to the vampire. "It was faster to get here by apparation... Dear Merlin, you stick out like a sore thumb." She flicked her wand and Rebekah's black sweater dress, jeans and boots were covered with bronze wizard robes though she was still hunched over, trying to right herself.

"I want to throw up..." Rebekah heaved.

"Oh, as your niece says, suck it up." She led the vampire into a pub called the Three Broomsticks and to a table where a tall man with long white hair and an equally white beard sat. His blue eyes twinkled at her as he stood.

"Ahh, Ms. Mik-,"

"Rebekah, please," the vampire said, looking around nervously. There were too many witches and wizards around for her liking for her to have her surname thrown about. The man seemed to understand and held out his hand for her to shake, "I'm Albus Dumbledore. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Rebekah shook his hand and he flicked his wand and the chair pulled itself out for her. Used to the theatrics of witches, she sat with little surprise. "Hello..." So this was Hope's Headmaster. He seemed every bit the actual wizard with that long hair and beard and the robes. It also seemed he had taken the liberty of ordering them drinks as a tankard of something frothy was set in front of her.

"Butterbeer," he explained and she tried it and wanted nothing more than to bathe in it. It wasn't as wonderful as blood but pretty damn close!

"Oh wow, that's good..." she took another long swig.

"So, I trust you had a pleasant trip?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly.

"Apparation is bloody awful..." Rebekah muttered and he chuckled.

"Yes, it is a bit... er... disorienting the first few times." He then grew serious, "So, I suspect you know why I invited you here?"

"Yes, I know... You want me to see if I can find any trace of this Sirius Black."

"Yes, Black has escaped Azkaban, as you well know, and is currently after a young boy whom is rather good friends with your adopted niece."

So, he didn't know that Hope was a blood relation. She really did not feel inclined to tell him. Instead she focused on the problem at hand. "Yes, I know. Minerva told me all about him when she last visited my home."

Apparently that was news to the Headmaster for he rose his brows at Minerva. "And when was this?"

"When Hope tried to kill herself due to the dementors, sir. As Hope's head of house, it was my duty to tell her."

That seemed to pacify the old man and went back to business. "Well, I know you want, as do I, for the dementors to leave the grounds. However, as they are here on Ministry business, they won't leave until Black is caught. I'm willing to give you one day, starting now, to look for him. The castle has already been thoroughly searched, however the grounds as well as surrounding areas could use a... keener eye."

Rebekah gave the man a knowing smile, "You don't want me in the castle, do you?"

"It's not that I don't trust you, Rebekah. You've proven you're very trustworthy around children. Miss Brown and the Patil twins are positively enamored by you. It's just, the less the children know, the better. I'm sure you understand."

Rebekah let out an annoyed sigh and crossed her legs. "Very well... Now, where's the bloody ass who called my Hope a whore?"

At that Dumbledore sighed. "Ah yes, Professor Snape has been... reprimanded. I don't think I've ever seen Minerva lose her temper with anyone like that since she was a girl. Madam Pomfrey had to give her a calming draught..."

Minerva flushed and took a sip of her gillywater, not saying anything. Luckily they were distracted when the door to the pup opened and the largest man that Rebekah had ever seen made his way to the table.

"Ello Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall. Ah, who's this?" What she could see of the man's face that wasn't covered by his black beard had gone a bit red.

"Rebekah, this is Rubeus Hagrid, our Care of Magical Creatures professor as well as gamekeeper. Hagrid, this is Rebekah and she is here to assist in searching for Sirius Black. Don't let her slight appearance fool you," the older man said when Hagrid now looked at her skeptically, "she has a certain skill that will come in handy." Rebekah also noticed he didn't inform the giant man of her relationship to Hope and was glad he kept it on a need-to-know basis.

"Wha sorta skill set?" Hagrid asked warily as they all rose from the table and out of the pub.

When Rebekah saw they were away from prying eyes she smiled, eyes reddening and fangs descending.

"Oh..." Hagrid said in surprise while Minerva rolled her eyes.

"Show off..." she muttered, echoing Rebekah from two years ago. The blond only smiled.

"So, where do you want me to start?" Rebekah asked Dumbledore pleasantly.

"As all of Hogsmeade is on the lookout for him, I would suggest the Hogwarts grounds. Hagrid, Minerva, if you could kindly assist by showing her around."

* * *

Hope, after staying up for the whole night, had finally went to sleep around dawn and did not wake up until three in the afternoon. It seems a nice amount of people had taken that route and had slept in. Luckily it was a Sunday.

When people finally did wake up all anyone could talk about in the common room was what had happened last night. Ron and Lavender were basically the stars of the common room, sitting in the center of the room and retelling their story to anyone who would listen.

Also, in light of their shared fear, Ron and Lavender had finally made up. The redheaded boy had pulled her to the side during dinner Sunday night and apologized for what he had said in Potions.

"That's all right, Ron... I'm just glad you're all right..."

"You too..."

Hope wanted to roll her eyes but then remembered Hermione had apologized when she had nearly killed herself. And saying the rat was better off dead was really mean...

With a grudging sigh and a nudge from Parvati she trudged over to where Ron had gone to sit with Harry and tapped his shoulder and spoke before he could even open his mouth.

"I'm sorry I called you a whiny tampon and said your rat was better off dead... That was a douche move on my part..."

Harry's brows rose and Ron looked surprised but pleased that she apologized. "No problem..."

However, the fact that she had apologized did nothing to her relationship with Fred. When she told him that she had apologized to Ron all he did was say "Good," and go on about his business. Hope again felt as if she was punched in the gut and whirled on her feet, storming out of the Great Hall on her heel.

"Ouch, rejected by a Weasley... that has to hurt. What happened? You clamped your money pouch shut?"

"Go to Hell, Malfoy..."

She finally made it to the Tower and to her dorm, throwing herself on her bed and sobbing her eyes out.

* * *

"Anythin'?" Hagrid asked as they searched around the Forbidden Forest.

"Not yet..."

While Rebekah had stayed focused on the task at hand, she found it hard to not be distracted by the totally weird shit she was seeing. Hippogriffs were amazing! She would have to see about riding one once she was able to return on non-manhunting business. An the Forest Troll alone... And the nineteen year old girl she's once been had went agog at the sight of the beautiful unicorn that had trotted a few yards away from them.

"My brother would love this... He loves horses..." she explained and forced herself to focus.

Hagrid laughed, "He'd have quite the time tryin' ta ride a full grown unicorn. Don' like males much, unicorns. Prefer a woman's touch..." Then he blushed and turned away from her while she tried not to laugh, especially at the way Minerva rolled her eyes.

"We've been at this for the better part of... well, hours now."

"Yes, I am quite famished..." Rebekah then reached into her small purse and pulled out a blood bag, ignoring the uneasy look from Minerva and the look of interest from Hagrid. They wanted her help, then they'd have to get used to it. Once she finished, she tucked the plastic into her purse to toss away later. "All right... give me moment..." she then took off at top speed, leaving the two professors behind. In what seemed like roughly twenty-five minutes she returned to their sides, jeans ripped and shoes ruined. "Well, I saw no one. The only humans I could pick up anywhere in this whole bloody forest were you two..."

Minerva sighed in disappointment. "Very well... though it may be a bit hard considering he does know how to apparate..."

"Lovely..." Rebekah sighed. "But, I can tell you he's nowhere in this forest... Is there anywhere else we should check?"

"No, that's all..." Minerva sighed and glanced at the sky. "Dusk is approaching. We need to get you back."

Hagrid led the two women out of the forest and once safe on the grounds, they turned to thank him.

"Were my eyes playing tricks on me or did I see a centaur when I was running?" Rebekah asked and he laughed heartily.

"Yep. There's a herd of em' in the forest... most of the time they just spit nonsense... funny creatures, centaurs... big on star readin' an' such."

Minerva let out a small snort, reminding everyone how she felt about divination. "Well, thank you Hagrid, I mist be getting Rebekah back to Hogsmeade now..."

"Oh... um, perhaps I could escort her back...?" he asked hopefully and Minerva sighed while Rebekah bit back a snicker.

"That won't be necessary, Hagrid... besides, it looks as if you're due for a visitor..."

Hagrid turned and in the distance saw a certain bushy-haired figure making its way toward his cabin.

"Make certain she's back in the castle before it's dark," Minerva told him before leading Rebekah away.

"Good bye, Hagrid. Nice meeting you!" Rebekah waved then turned with a smirk to the other woman "So, I'm guessing I should get out of here before that little girl sees me?"

"That would probably be best..." Minerva did not like the smirk on the vampire's face.

"Very well... Hold on to your hat..." Her arms wrapped around the woman who barely had time to gasp as she was vamp sped back to Hogsmeade.

When the two entered the Three Broomsticks to report back to Dumbledore, Minerva looked frazzled and shaken while Rebekah sported a huge grin, happily ignoring the glares the other woman was sending her.

"Hello, ladies... Either that smile is due to finding Sirius Black or to successfully getting your revenge on my Transfiguration professor for that disorienting apparation earlier today."

"Unfortunately the latter," Rebekah said with a sigh.

"Ahh, well I won't lie to you and tell you that I am not disappointed however I am very grateful for your help. Perhaps, if we had called on you the moment we heard of his break in things would have went differently..."

"Is that your way of saying if it happens again you want me here as soon as possible?"

"That is exactly what I am saying... if you're willing?"

"Are unicorns beautiful? Of course I'm willing."

Dumbledore smiled gratefully. "Wonderful. Oh, and please take this as a token of my appreciation." He handed her a box of lollipops that said 'Honeydukes' and Rebekah was surprised that they smelled like blood.

"Specially made for... er... people such as yourself."

Rebekah cautiously took one and tasted it, pleasantly surprised. "Thanks!" She smiled just like a kid receiving a sucker from the dentist.

"You're quite welcome, Rebekah. Now, if you excuse me it is dinner time in the castle and I must address the students. Minerva will take you home. It was lovely meeting you," he then stood and she mirrored him, shaking his hand.

"And you as well."

The old man left and the two women followed. As the sun went down the streets were deserted, people closing up shop and rushing to their homes. Dumbledore then gave a final wave of parting and crossed the path from Hogsmeade to Hogworts, leaving the two alone.

"Well... that got us bloody nowhere..." Rebekah huffed. "Though, at least I saw the wonderful things Hope constantly writes to me about... Those hippogriffs are amazing... though I am upset that I didn't get to slap that bloody asshole teacher..."

"I came pretty close..." Minerva muttered and Rebekah grinned.

"Well, in that case, I'm going to have to buy you a very late Christmas present... like some better clo-"

She stopped talking and shivered as a chill swept into her skin and bones, freezing her blood. Minerva froze as well, eyes wide with fright. "Bloody hell, they're here..."

"What's here?" Rebekah demanded, looking around frantically and gasping when all of the lights, even the light of the moon and stars as well as the cabins went out and it was completely pitch black that not even her vampire sight could penetrate the darkness.

A strong, scaly hand grabbed her by the throat and she was hefted off the ground as if she weighed nothing at all. Rebekah hissed, fangs elongating and she tried to pry its hands off of her but her grip went slack when wave upon wave of ultimate despair rocked her soul.

_Her family did not love her. They always took her happiness away. She was either daggered in a box for years on end or expected to sacrifice while Klaus gave up nothing._

_Marcel loved power more than her, the city and a bunch of orphan Annie vampires that became nothing but cannon fodder._

_Her own mother plotted her death. _

_It was only a matter of time until Hope realized how worthless she was. _

A fierce voice broke through her devastating thoughts. "Expecto patronum!"

A bright white light shown and the thing holding her dropped her to the ground. Whimpering, Rebekah lifted her head and saw what looked like a silvery cat shoot at the hooded figure that floated above her. The thing glided away in a hurry and the lights returned, followed, slowly, by the warmth.

"Rebekah! Are you all right?!" Strong arms pulled the shivering vampire into a sitting position.

"Wh... what..." Rebekah couldn't even form words.

"That was a dementor..."

"It... it..." Rebekah was so weak and so drained.

"Do you have anymore packs?"

"No..."

"Bloody hell..." Minerva shifted and offered her wrist, "Three sips. Anymore and I'll stun you, got it?"

Veins bulged around Rebekah's eyes and her fangs sank into the proffered vein. Minerva winced as the vampire took three huge gulps of her blood and just when she thought she was going to have to stun her, the fangs receded and the vampire looked a bit better, less pale but still shaken.

"I don't... feel any better? Why don't I feel any better?"

Both of their heads lifted when they heard a scraping noise and Minerva whirled around, pointing her lit wand. She calmed down when she saw it was only a stray dog.

"S' just a dog..." Rebekah muttered at the sight of the big, black dog that was watching them from an alley. "Get me home..."

Wasting no time, Minerva apparated them both back Rebekah's bedroom.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Okay, hahah, first flame and from someone who didn't even have the fortitude to sign in with a pen name. Don't you love it when they do their abuse anonymously? Anyway, onto things and people that matter. Thanks to everyone who are sticking with my story and I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while. Also, the ones who keep rushing me to update: Keep in mind this is done in my leisure time and that I have a life and responsibilities that are at the top of my totem pole. Okay? Good. On with the story.**

"Where do you keep your blood and do you have any chocolate?"

Rebekah, who had collapsed on her bed upon being apparated back to her room, could only weekly point to the safe next to her bed. She was still feeling the effects of the dementors and the apparation back hadn't done her any favors by adding dizziness and nausea.

"The combination is-"

A flick of Minerva's wand had the safe opening in an instant. Well, all right then...

"Here, sit up. Drink this."

Strong arms lifted her into a sitting position and she felt the cool plastic of a blood bag touch her lips. She bit into it, drank and immediately the nausea and dizziness subsided but she still felt the despair echoes.

"Do you have chocolate?" Minerva's voice asked again.

"I have chocolate red wine..." she replied shakily, still feeling the cold though her heater was on.

"That honestly sounds wonderful right now..." Minerva flicked her wand and the bottle soared into the room and she conjured two wine glasses from thin air, pouring them both a generous amount.

Rebekah took a swig and blinked in surprise when she felt the warmth return to her body and the bad feelings slightly receded. "What the..."

"Chocolate is a known remedy against the dementors' effects. Hope had to eat a giant bowl of chocolate pudding before Madam Pomfrey even considered letting her out of the hospital wing."

"Th-this is what Hope went through?"

"No... You only had a small dose. Hope was subjected to over a hundred of them... though they did not forcefully attack her as they did you."

Rebekah said nothing, only drained her glass before holding it out for a refill. Minerva poured the vampire another glass as well as topped off her own. The two drank in silence, Rebekah alternating between her blood bag and her wine glass.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you..." Minerva said after a while.

"It's not your fault... If anything this just reinforces where I stand on those things being around kids, especially my niece."

"But..." Minerva sighed "what happened tonight... that was exactly what I was hoping did not happen when you first asked to search for Black. And I was the one who asked Professor Dumbledore if it would be all right to-"

"If you start blaming yourself like a whiny doppelganger I will eat your face."

Minerva's mouth fell open and then quirked into a small smile at the shaky grin on the vampire's mouth. "Doppelganger?"

"The last Petrova doppelganger... whiny little bitch. I actually like you. Don't be that girl."

"There is a story I'm missing here, isn't there?"

"The eternal story of why men always fawn over the whiny little crybaby when there is a much hotter, more interesting woman in front of them..."

"I believe I'm familiar with that story..." Minerva said dryly as she drained her glass, "I think there is some protective mentality that goes along with that..."

"Super Save-A-Hoe Syndrome you mean?" the vampire quipped and Minerva actually let out a laugh.

"I've never heard it put like that... "

Rebekah grinned then grew serious, "Minerva... if you could kindly keep this from Hope, I would appreciate it. I don't want her worrying or getting distracted from her studies."

"I understand and that won't be a problem."

"Good." There was still a shadow of that horror in the vampire's eyes and though she tried to hide it Minerva saw her lower lip tremble for a fraction of second.

Setting her glass on the table, Minerva wrapped her arm around the blond's shoulder. "Let it out, Rebekah..." Being forced to relieve the worst moments of over a thousand years of life, along with amplified feelings, was no doubt horrifying.

Rebekah let out a small sob and for the second time that year broke down in the witch's arms.

* * *

That next week at Hogwarts there were signs of tighter security everywhere. Sir Cadogan had been fired and the Fat Lady had been returned to guard the entrance to the common room but she was provided with extra protection which included a group of surly security trolls which paced up and down the corridor, grunting and comparing the size of their clubs.

"They remind me of a few guys I know..." Angelina had smirked to a few other girls who broke into snickers.

In response to the madness that happened the other night Ron and Lavender had become celebrities and it was clear they were still enjoying the experience, even more so now that it had spread beyond Gryffindor Tower. The two had taken to telling anyone who asked about the night's events and if they were in the same room when being asked they would turn it into a double-act.

"...I had gone down to get some leftover chocolate..."

"... I felt this draft and I woke up, and there he was! Face like a skeleton, long matted hair and knife that was about twelve inches long!"

"I heard Ron scream and I jumped, dropping all of my candy. I ran to the foot of the stairs, thinking someone had a nightmare..."

"...and then he just _scampered!"_

"He came barreling at me, and I screamed. I ran to the exit and then he grabbed me by the shoulder. I was scared for my virtue and my life! But he just threw me by the shoulder and ran!"

"But... why do you think he ran?" Ron had asked Harry after the group of first years had departed.

Harry was also wondering that same thing. Considering that Black had shown he was capable of leading his parents to their deaths and murdering twelve innocent people to escape, why didn't he just kill Ron and proceed to Harry then kill Lavender upon escaping?

Perhaps he knew that once Ron woke everyone up he would have a time trying to kill the whole house to escape, then there were the teachers that he would also have to get past.

Another thing that had happened was the disgrace of Neville. When the students saw McGonagall a bit after dinner that Sunday night she was so enraged with Neville that she banned him from all future Hogsmeade visits, gave him a detention and forbade the other students from telling him the password into Gryffindor Tower. However that was nothing compared what his grandmother had sent him that Monday morning; the worst punishment that a Hogwarts student could receive: a Howler.

Neville had sprinted from the table, the Slytherin table in stitches at the sight of him and right when he made it to the hallway his grandmother's voice was magnified over a hundred times, telling him he brought shame to the family. However, Harry would have gladly switched places with Neville in terms of being teased. While Ron and Lavender were the talk of the school, the Slytherins latched onto the news that Harry and Cho had split.

"What happened, Potter? That Ravenclaw brain of hers tell her how stupid it was to date you?" Malfoy snickered as more post owls arrived.

"Oh, shut it, Malfoy... Ow!" Harry glanced down to see Hedwig who had nipped him on the wrist to get his attention as she had a letter for him. "Oh, thanks Hedwig."

The note was from Hagrid, inviting Harry and Ron to his cabin for tea later that afternoon and with a stern warning not to head out on their own.

"He probably wants to hear all about Black!" Ron said excitedly.

Harry figured that was what is was as well and it would be interesting to hear the story as a single instead of a double-act with Lavender.

Speaking of girls, Harry chanced a glance at the Ravenclaw table, feeling a pang in his chest and stomach at the sight of Cho. Her back was to the Gryffindor table, her dark hair falling down her back. All he wanted to do was go over there and set things straight.

"Hey... why did you two split?" Ron asked as they headed to Care of Magical Creatures.

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "She's got it in her head that I fancy Hermione, just because I visited her when she got into the fight with those Slytherin girls."

Ron's eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Yeah,"

"Wow."

"Right?"

"Girls are mental..."

* * *

Class went on as normal, aside from random people stopping Ron and Lavender for a retelling of what took place. Although Harry noticed Hope was clearly not paying attention in class, still smarting from her break with Fred. Luckily for the girl, no one knew about her love problems outside of a few people in Gryffindor. Once Black attacked Ron and Lavender no one seemed to care about her personal problems.

Though, within a few hours, people seemed to note that Hope and Fred weren't attached at the arm as usual. Which of course led to people asking questions and formulating theories and soon everyone seemed to think Fred and Hope had broken up as well. And of course, one group of people could not let a juicy tidbit like that go.

"So, Mitchell... even a slut like you couldn't keep a Weasley interested?" Pansy asked her happily in Care of Magical Creatures that. They were learning about creatures called Knarls that resembled hedgehogs and ate daisies. Apparently once spring came and daisies were in bloom they would have a lesson in feeding them. However, the cute animals were the last thing on Hope's mind. It seemed a cruel irony that an animal lover like Hope had to share this class with these Slytherin assholes so she was hardly able to enjoy the class.

"Go gnaw on a soup bone, pug..." Hope growled.

"Did you lose the baby and so now he doesn't want to marry you because you were his gravy train?"

"You're still on that?" Parvati hissed, unimpressed as she placed a hand on Hope's shoulder to calm her. "Instead of worrying about everyone else's relationships why don't you worry about why your boyfriend doesn't pay attention to you... Unless it's punishment for piddling on the rug instead of the paper he left for you in your common room."

"Oh shut up, Parvati... Stop acting like you matter. That's your sister's job, she's the smart one, the one your family's proud of. You're just the stupid one who had to get rescued by a bloody Yank and is more than likely going to have to marry into money because you're too stupid to do anything else..."

Parvati's mouth opened then closed and she looked ready to cry. Hope nearly popped out of her seat but Lavender restrained her and to her surprise Hermione came to their defense "You must like the beatings Hope gives you, it's the only way anyone touches you!"

"And this is happening..." Harry sighed under his breath.

"Aren't you going to back Pansy up?" Theodore Nott whispered to Malfoy.

"I don't get involved in fights with girls..."

Harry inwardly translated that as he was afraid of what Hope would do to his face.

"All right, now... Who can tell me the key difference between a knarl and a hedgehog?" Hagrid asked, cutting through the fighting. And of course, Hermione's hand shot up. Normally Hope's would but the break had her not really paying attention.

Now that Hagrid was actually asking them questions and engaging the class, the girls had to call a cease fire. Class continued normally but considering their next class was Potions, it was only a matter of time before the toolery started again.

Of course, once in Potions it seemed as if both Harry and Hope's issues were the project of a bizarre date between Malfoy and Parkinson. They both attacked the two Gryffindors, feeding off of each others' hostility.

"I wonder if Chang found herself someone who is not a giant wimp when it comes to dementors..." Malfoy drawled while Pansy giggled. Ron had to put a hand on Harry's shoulder to keep him from jumping out of his seat.

"I don't think it was the dementors, I think it was because she was tired of downgrading," Pansy said smartly.

"Settle down..." Snape told the Slytherin's idly.

"As if this cow should even talk about anyone downgrading..." Hope muttered under her breath so only Parvati could hear her.

"Speaking of downgrades... heard Mitchell and Weasley split," Malfoy whispered then turned to Hope "Did you refuse to buy him something new for once and he called it off?"

"Eat a dick, Malfoy," she whispered back.

"Or was _that_ what you didn't do and he dumped you?" Malfoy asked without batting an eye.

Hope's mouth dropped open and she looked ready to kill but Parvati gripped her shoulder. "He's not even worth it, Hope..."

"One of these days..." Hope hissed but went to her work.

* * *

Six o'clock rolled around and Harry and Ron made it to the entrance hall to find Hagrid waiting for them.

"Hi, Hagrid!" Ron began "S'pose you want to hear about what happened Saturday night?"

"Iv'e already heard all about it," Hagrid said as they made their way to his cabin, Ron looking put out.

When the entered, they noticed Buckbeak resting on Hagrid's cabin, eating a huge plate of dead ferrets. His stomach churning at the sight, he turned and saw a huge hairy brown suit and the most awful orange and yellow tie he had ever seen hanging on the wardrobe door.

"What are they for, Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"Beaky's case against the Comitte fer the Disposal o' Magical Creatures," the giant man explained. "This Friday. We're goin' down ter Londen together. I've booked two beds on the Knight Bus..."

Harry felt a pang of guilt. He had forgotten all about Buckbeak's case and their promise to help Hagrid and the guilty look on Ron's face said he wasn't the only one. The arrival of the Firebolt, Cho finally talking to him and the gossip about Hope killing a vampire drove it from their minds.

"But," Hagrid said as he poured them tea and offered a plate of Bath buns which they refused politely, "I got somethin' ter discuss with you two," he then said between the two boy.

"What?" Harry asked, not used to Hagrid looking so serious.

"Hermione."

"What about her?" Ron said.

"She's been comin' ter see me a lot since Chris'mas. Then she started feelin' better once she started hangin' around the other girls in her dorm. Still misses the two o' yeh though. First yeh weren' talkin' to her because o' the Firebolt and now because her cat-"

"Ate Scabbers!" Ron interjected hotly.

"Because her cat acted like all cats do," Hagrid continued "She's cried a few times, yeh know. Really stressed with all the work she's tryin' ter do. Still managed to find the time ter help me with Buckbeak's case. She's found some really good stuff and he might stand a good chance, now."

"Hagrid, we should've helped as well.." Harry said awkwardly.

"Don' worry about that," Hagrid said, "I know how busy yeh've been, practicin' Quidditch all hours o' the day an' night. I just thought the two o yeh would value your friend more'n broomsticks or rats, is all."

Harry swallowed uncomfortably, though not certain why he was being subjected to a lecture. He was on good terms with Hermione, it was just awkward being caught in between the feud between her and Ron.

"Really upset, she was, when Black nearly stabbed yeh, Ron. But speakin' of Black, I wouldn' worry about him comin' round much. Dumbledore got some tighter security outside the castle. Great man, Dumbledore."

"We saw the security trolls," Harry said.

"Oh, not the trolls,"

Was it Harry's imagination or was Hagrid blushing. The two boys exchanged confused glances. "What then?"

Hagrid seemed to struggle with whether or not he should tell them but decide there was no harm. "All right, just don't go tellin' everyone in the castle... Especially not Hope or Parvati..." he took a small glance around before revealing to them. "A vampire."

Harry's eyes went wide and Ron's mouth fell open. "A vampire!?"

"Shh!" Hagrid warned.

"When was this? Is it hear now?" Ron asked, looking around in fright.

"Nah, she left. And calm down, Ron. They're not all bad, vampires. In fact some are righ' lovely..."

Harry and Ron exchanged blank looks. Was Hagrid fancying a vampire?

"Er... right..." Harry said, wanting to get off of the idea of Hagrid and a vampire. "So, what happened?" he asked eagerly. "I'm guessing she didn't find him if the security trolls and dementors are still here."

"Nah, she didn'. She mainly searched outside the castle, in the forest. Really liked the unicorns and hippogriffs. Woulda liked to show her Beaky. He probably woulda liked 'er." He flushed again but then caught himself. "Anyway, she searched around the grounds. Dumbledore figured she could pick up sumthin nobody else could."

"Because vampires have heightened senses," Harry piped up, remembering his lessons in Defense Against the Dark Arts. "They can see, hear and smell everything much better than a human. Plus, they're faster and stronger."

"Righ' yeh are, Ron. It was amazin', watchin' her zip around the forest. An she drinks blood ou' o' little clear packs."

"Like donor packs from a hospital?" Harry asked wide eyed.

"What's a donor pack?" Ron asked.

"People give blood at muggle hospitals for people who lose a lot in accidents and stuff. I'm guessing the vampire swipes them from blood drives or something."

Muggles use other peoples blood?" Ron asked in revolted awe.

"Yeah..." Harry shrugged, figuring there was some other part of the wizard world he wasn't getting. "What do you use?"

"Blood Replenishing Potion..."

"Oh." He turned back to Hagrid, wanting to hear more about the vampire. "Finish telling us, please..."

"She wen' home afterward. Professor McGonagall took her back to Hogsmeade. The two o' them must be friends. Saw her zip McGonagall away at vampire speed. Heard it was because she didn' like apparatin' and wanted to get her back. Good sense o' humor, that vampire..."

Harry couldn't help but crack a smile at the idea of a vampire running at top speed with Professor McGonagall and how frazzled she must been. Was that another reason she was in such a foul mood aside from the Black attack?

"But, enough 'bout that..." Hagrid said with a swig of his tea "Back to Hermione."

Harry honestly had no issue with her now that his Firebolt was back, and he could also see Hagrid's point of view about the Crookshanks and Scabbers dilemma. However, one look at Ron's tight-lipped expression told him the redhead was going to stubborn about this to the bitter end.

* * *

For Hope the rest of the classes continued as normal and once it was over they went back to their common room to blow off some steam and the effort of holding in all of her anger had Hope hitting critical mass the moment the portrait hole opened.

"I swear to God, that bitch! And that asshole boyfriend of hers! Urgh!" Hope seethed as she stormed into the common room, stepping on a first year's foot as she did so.

"OW!" the small boy cried.

"Oh, can it!" Hope hissed and the frightened boy scuttled away.

"Hope!" Lavender admonished and went after the boy to comfort him.

Hope only huffed and flopped onto the couch. "Stupid assholes, I could end them all in a moment..."

Parvati's expression went from annoyed to worried. "Hey... Hope, calm down..."

"And I'm sick of you telling me to calm down!" Hope growled at her friend and felt a jolt of satisfaction when Parvati shrank back in fear. However her brain then clicked on and logic prevailed and she felt a wave of remorse. "I'm sorry... this whole break thing has me messed up." Where the hell did that come from?

"It's fine..." Parvati said uneasily but tried to dispel the tension. "Hey, there's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend," Parvati said, putting an arm around Hope's shoulders. "That should cheer you right up."

"You haven't been to Hogsmeade yet!" Lavender exclaimed as she returned to the group. "This is just the thing to perk you up. Think of all the lovely things you can buy your aunt and uncle."

Was it Hope's imagination or did Lavender's cheeks flush at the mention of her uncle Elijah? Eh, whatever. "That does sound fun..." she finally said.

"Yay!" Lavender cheered as she wrapped her arm around Hope's waist. "There's the sweet shop, the joke shop... and you can get some butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks along with some food. And there's the post office. So many owls!"

"If I come back smelling like owls Nik would peck my face off," Hope smirked, feeling a bit lighter than she had all weekend.

"True, but bring him some treats and he might forgive you."

"Speaking for treats, it's time for dinner!" Lavender said and pulled the two from their seats to head to the Great Hall.

As they headed down one of the corridors they passed the Quidditch team, who were likely coming back from a practice. Hope walked up a few paces so she wouldn't have to look at Fred who was chatting with George, Katie and Angelina.

"Fred, you clearly miss her," Katie's sensible voice said "Go talk to her. This break thing is stupid. What does a break even mean?"

Whatever Fred said Hope didn't hear as she she stormed ahead of them into the Great Hall. She took her seat at the far end of the table, away from where the fifth years normally sat. She piled her plate up high and began to eat her feelings but paused when she felt someone standing near her. She prayed to any listening deity that it wasn't Fred and she sighed in relief when she saw it was Ernie Macmillain, a Hufflepuff in her year. She had always found him a bit pompous, but not on an outrageous Percy-like level.

"Ah hello, Hope. Lovely day, isn't it?" Ernie said, gesturing to the spelled ceiling of the Great Hall. It showed a lovely clear sky, turning pink due to the sunset.

"Yeah, I guess..." Hope took a bite of her food "What's up?"

The blond boy flushed a bit but puffed himself up a bit. "Forgive me for being forward, Hope..."

Forward? Oh hell... Hope's eyes widened and she got a sinking feeling she knew where this was going. She glanced at Parvati and Lavender, not surprised to see the two snickering with glee. "Yeah, Ernie...?" she asked hesitantly.

"Can we perhaps speak somewhere in private?" the boy asked.

Hope nodded though she had no idea how to even go about this. She went to stand and Ernie actually took her hand to help her from her seat, earning more giggles from Parvati and Lavender. Hope hazarded a glance down the table and she flushed when she saw Dean and Seamus snickering. However, once she saw the look on Fred's face, as though he had just been punched, she tried not to smirk with self-satisfied spite. They walked out of the Great Hall and she did put a bit of sway into her walk just because she could, and had to keep from grinning when she passed Malfoy and Parkinson and she heard the sound of a swat.

"You were looking at her fat ass again!"

"I was not! What is wrong with you?"

Hope bit back a snicker but soon the butterflies returned when Ernie led her to one of the benches in the halls to sit.

"I suppose its not hard to guess why I wanted to speak with you in private..." Ernie said and Hope twiddled her thumbs.

"No... not really."

Ernie cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, Hope, I rather fancy you. And I heard about your unfortunate break up with Fred Weasley, and I figured I would be a fool if I didn't try."

Heat rushed to Hope's cheeks and she was torn between feeling flattered and terrible. He was so sweet! Ugh, why couldn't he have asked her out before she even glanced at Fred? But, she figured it was the fact that she was a Gryffindor and not a Slytherin, that she set him straight.

"Ernie... I'm really flattered and you're very sweet and pretty cute too..."

"I sense a 'but' on the horizon." Ernie said with a small sigh.

"Well, for starters... Fred and I aren't broken up, we're on a break..."

"Oh... I see," the boy seemed to visibly deflate but he regained himself. "Well, if he doesn't come to his senses, you know where to find me during meals and Herbology."

Hope grinned, glad he was handling it well. "I'll keep that in mind." He stood and helped her to stand as well, then actually kissed her hand which had an embarrassed giggle escaping her.

"Good day, Hope."

"Um... good day, Ernie?" she said uneasily and then she rose on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

Ernie blushed and smiled and gestured for her to go ahead of him and when they turned a corner Hope let out an exasperated sigh as she nearly collided with her two friends. "Really, guys?"

"Hello, Parvati... Lavender," Ernie said awkwardly.

"You eavesdropping little..." Hope grumbled under her breath while her friends grinned sheepishly.

"I'll leave you to your friends, Hope..." Ernie said and headed back to the Great Hall.

"How much did you heifers hear?" Hope growled out.

"Just all of it," Lavender smirked.

"He's such a sweetheart!" Parvati gushed. "If he wasn't into you I would go after him."

"Please do, that'd take his mind off of me," Hope said wearily. So, that was the first time she had to let down a guy. Wow, that sucked...

"Speaking of people who have you on their minds..." Lavender said with a grin as they headed back for the hall "Parkinson had a right fit when you put on the hip show. Malfoy was totally checking out your butt... as usual."

"And then Fred looked ready to kill him along with Parkinson..." Parvati snickered.

That had Hope's mouth tilting to a smirk. "Oh really, now?"

"What evil plan is that dragon egg head of yours hatching?" Parvati asked with a smile.

"Huh?" Hope said innocently "I have no clue what you're talking about..."

When they entered the hall again Hope was about to glance at Fred but Lavender elbowed her. "Don't look at him. It'll drive him crazy. Boys hate being ignored!"

Hope snickered and did as she was told, moving to sit back at her usual spot. She was dying to glance down the table but forced herself not to. Instead she nudged the person next to her. "Hermione..."

"What?" she didn't even look up from the book she was studying.

"Is Fred looking over here?"

Hermione glanced up for a moment. "He's talking with George and Lee."

Hope was slightly put out and she let it go. For a couple of minutes at least. Then she elbowed the other girl again. "How about now?"

An exasperated sigh sounded from the girl but she looked up anyway. "He's glaring at the Hufflepuff table. What happened?"

"Ernie asked me out," Hope said with a smug smile.

Hermione made a noncommittal hum, as if she wanted to add something but at that moment Padma moved from the Ravenclaw table to plop between Hope and Hermione, "Did Ernie Macmillain just ask you out?"

"Where'd you hear that?" Hope asked, surprised it already circled about that fast.

"Cedric just told me. He told me Ernie had been asking him about you due to the fact he's dating me and the two of us are friends."

Hope gave a small sigh. She didn't know it ran that deep. "Wow... But, I turned him down. I'm on a break, not broken up."

"Oh please, everyone knows that a break is just a prelude to a breakup," Hermione said as she turned a page. "You might as well both end it and stop stalling."

Hope's stomach dropped at her words, then the hallow filled with rage. "Hey, listen hag-"

"I hate to say it, but she's right," Padma said gently.

"Et tu, Padma?" Hope huffed. Hermione sighed and gathered her books and headed for the exit. Hope watched her leave and then whirled on Lavender and Parvati "Do you two think that as well?"

Parvati and Lavender exchanged uneasy glances. "I'm going to take a nap before Astronomy..." the Gryffindor twin declared and the blond nodded as well.

"Me too!"

Both girls skittered to the exit, leaving Hope feeling uneasy and slightly betrayed. No longer feeling hungry, she got up and headed for the Gryffindor Tower as well. As she entered she passed Ron and Harry who were both looking at the bulletin board, talking animatedly about the trip to Hogsmeade that weekend.

"Harry, if you go into Hogsmeade this weekend... I'll tell McGinagall about that map!"

Hopee's brow furrowed. What map? What were they talking about? She glanced at Harry who looked shaken but Ron's face had darkened.

"Do you hear anyone, Harry?" the redhead asked, not looking at Hermione.

"Ron!" Hermione gasped "How can you let him go with you after what Black nearly did to you and Lavender!? I mean it! I'll tell-"

"So now you're tyrin to get him expelled?!" Ron hissed "Haven't you don enough this year?"

Hermione was about to respond but once Crookshanks hopped into her lap and Ron's face darkened even more she gathered up the cat and skittered towards the girls dorms.

Hope wondered slightly at what was going on. What map? However, it was none of her business. She also moved to head toward the girls' dorms though she heard bits and pieces of Harry and Ron's conversation.

"So how about it, Harry? You didn't even see Zonko's last time!"

"Okay..." she heard Harry say hesitantly. "But, this time I'm taking the Invisibility Cloak with me."

* * *

"Hope, come on! We're going to miss the carriages!"

That Saturday morning Hope was shocked awake by the all too familiar feel of a pillow swatting her on the back and butt as well as Lavender's voice barking at her.

"Damn it, woman..." the brunette grumbled and burrowed into her covers and pillows.

"It's Hogsmeade day and you're still in bed! Get up!" Another thwack with the pillow.

"Grrr..." Hope grumbled. "Can I go another day?"

"No, you lazy dragon, get up. You're going to go to Hogsmeade-" thwack "-stuff yourself with sweets and butterbeer-" thwack "-and have some bloody fun for Merlin's sake. You've been wandering around the castle like a zombie or something-" Lavender raised the pillow again but she was stopped by Parvati.

"Let me handle this," she mouthed with a conspiratorial smile while waving her astrology book. She flipped it open to a page, pointed to something that had Lavender smirking as well.

"It's probably just as well that Hope doesn't go. Fred is more than likely soaking up attention from other girls, especially after what happened on Monday."

"Y'know..." Hope said, voice muffled by the pillow "The screwed up thing is I know you're totally playing me... and it's working..." she then got up and grabbed her clothes and headed for the bathrooms.

* * *

It was the weekend of the Hogsmeade trip and Harry had made certain to grab his invisibility cloak. He walked down with the other students, making a show of saying goodbye to Ron as Hermione was eying him beadly.

"See you later, Ron!" Harry said with a wide grin and then made a show of going back the way he came but ducked into a boy's toilet and activated the Marauder's Map.

Harry glanced down at the map to make certain the coast was clear. He saw a group of dots making their way to the castle doors, clearly stragglers who had dawdled. Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown and...

_What?_

Hope... Mikaelson?

He blinked, making certain he wasn't seeing things. Sure enough it said Hope Mikaelson. He peaked out of the bathroom when he saw the group on the map were nearing where he was hiding. Parvati, Lavender and the loud mouth he knew as Hope Mitchell, all rushed to the doors, getting told off by Percy for running.

Mikaelson?

T.T.T.T

**I'm sorry, I guess this is just a filler. I'm not very fond of this chapter but I wanted to have a continuation of the story. Let me know what you think.**


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or The Originals. They both belong to their respective copyright owners.

A/N: Okay, everyone I'm back! Sorry for the long hiatus but things got weird... Plus, I wasn't sure how to continue as I watched The Originals progress... Then I saw the season finale. I'm sorry, but I felt the final battle with Dahlia should have been a bit more... action packed. Granted, I liked her fighting style in the finale but the ending seemed lack-luster, especially after the episode before the finale. That episode... Klaus was an incorrigible _ass!_ Just like he was in The Vampire Diaries... made my heart sing! But then after the finale, yeah... I'm good on that so I'm going to continue on as if I never saw it and hopefully finish the entire story, all the way to the Hogwarts battle, before the season premiere in the fall.

Also, question for my readers: After we get past the 3rd year, do you think I should continue as is in this story or break the following years into their own stories/new uploads as sequels and just title them 'Hogwarts Hybrid: Year Four, Five, Six, Seven'? Please let me know.

Okay, this author note has gotten stupid long and I just want to thank everyone for sticking me and this story. On with the show!

* * *

_Mikaelson?_

Harry's brow furrowed as he stared at the worn parchment of the map before looking back in the direction the girls had run.

Mikaelson?

Where had he heard that name before?

He was quite certain he had heard that name before but for the life of him couldn't place it. But then, what was the big deal? If anything she was stuck in a custody battle. She did mention that she had just recently met her parents over the holidays.

Whatever, either way, he had a Hogsmeade to sneak into.

He made is way to the one-eyed witch statue and looked around on the map for anyone who might show up and just when he thought the coast was clear he saw a dot that said Neville Longbottom headed right to where his dot stood.

"Bugger..." Harry pulled out his wand "Dissendium!" he shoved his bag into the statue and hurried to climb in but before he could Neville rounded the corner.

"Hey, Harry! I forgot you weren't going to Hogsmeade either." The round-faced boy was clearly glad to find someone else in his year to hang out with.

"Hi, Neville." Harry inwardly sighed "What are you up to?"

""Nothing. Want a game of Exploding Snap?"

"Er... not now. I was..." Harry racked his brain "I was going to head to the library to work on the vampire essay for Professor Lupin."

"Great, I haven't done mine either. I'll come with you!" Neville said eagerly.

Harry resisted the urge to face palm. "Hang on, I forgot. I already did it."

"Great! You can help me. I'm really confused about the vervain thing..."

"Why are you confused?" Harry asked, momentarily side-tracked. "You were the only one in the class who knew why it was mixed up with garlic. Even Hermione didn't know."

Neville flushed happily at that and rubbed the back of his head. "I mean... I know about the vervain and what its called and what it does to vampires... It keeps them from feeding on you if you eat it, and keeps you from being compelled if you wear it or eat it... But what I don't get is why they're allergic to it-"

He broke off with a small gasp, eyes wide as he eyed something over Harry's shoulder. Harry turned and his stomach sank when he saw the looming form of Snape.

"And what are you two doing here?" the man asked, eyes flicking to the boys to the doors and then to the one-eyed witch which unsettled Harry greatly.

"Talking about vervain," Harry said on a whim. "Got an essay due for Professor Lupin on vampires. Neville knew the most about vervain so I figured I'd ask him."

Snape's brows rose at Harry's declaration that Neville was knew much on anything. "And you decided _here_ would be a good place to meet?"

"We didn't meet here... We just...met... here," Harry finished lamely.

"Indeed?" Snape asked disbelievingly. "I suggest the two of you return to Gryffindor Tower where you belong, or to the library where you would find _accurate_ information on vervain."

Neville flushed with embarrassment and Harry fumed, wanting nothing more than to jinx Snape but hurried off instead. He glanced back toward the statue, Snape was examining the one-eyed witch closely.

Harry finally managed to shake Neville off by telling him the password to Gryffindor Tower the moment they reached the Fat Lady and the said he had left his essay in the library. He doubled back and once out of sight he checked the map and was satisfied to see the dot labeled Severus Snape was in its office.

Sprinting to the one-eyed witch, he went inside the statue, wiped the map blank and set off toward Hogsmeade.

* * *

"So... remind me to pay you guys back for dragging me here..."

Parvati smirked at Hope's words as the silly girl scooped up various candies inside of Honeydukes. Once the carriage pulled into the village, Hope's mouth had fallen open and she nearly stepped on the other students to take her first step into the village. She then had dragged Parvati and Lavender to various buildings, demanding they show her around. Their first stop had been Honeydukes and they stood in amusement as Hope bagged up various candies to give to her family.

"I can't wait for Auntie Bex to try the Fizzing Whizbees and Glacial Snow Flakes!" Hope cheered.

"Are you going to get her some Every Flavor Beans?" Lavender asked as she made her own selections.

Hope bit back a snicker when she recalled how her beloved aunt's first encounter with the beans had gone during her first year.

"_Hey, Auntie Bex!"_

_Rebekah's lovely face split into a wide grin when eleven year old Hope rushed off of the train. It was the start of the winter holidays and her first time back home since September. _

"_Hope, I've missed you so much! Come, I've planned a marvelous dinner for us."_

"_Sweet!" Hope cheered as she waved goodbye to Seamus who was exiting the train to meet his mother. She then dug into her pockets. "Oh, Parvati got these for me on the train." The young girl placed a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans into Rebekah's hand. _

"_Ooh, thank you." The vampire took out a bean and popped it in her mouth and Hope could barely bite back her giggles when her aunt's face scrunched up comically._

"_This tastes like earwax!"_

"_They mean every flavor!" Hope giggled at Rebekah's exasperated glare. "Be happy you didn't get the booger flavored one!"_

Coming back to the present and remembering Lavender's question, Hope shook her head. "Nah, she's had them before... She got an earwax flavored one." She then brightened when something else popped into her mind. "I'll get some for Uncle Elijah... this'll be funny!" It would be a riot when her refined uncle tried a booger flavored bean.

"Are you going to get anything for your parents?" Parvati asked as she and Lavender made their purchases.

"Um..." Hope's eyes widened when she noticed some lollipops that were blood flavored that were in a section labeled "Unusual Tastes." "Yeah, I am... I just need to shop around a bit. I'll meet you guys outside."

The two girls nodded and left. Hope then turned to the woman, Mrs. Flume, behind the counter. "Can I get four boxes of those?" She asked.

"Of course, dear," Mrs. Flume said kindly as she boxed and bagged the treats.

"Aren't those for vampires?" a voice behind Hope asked, causing her to freeze before turning. It was Hermione.

"Oh, um, pranking my family," Hope said with what she hoped was convincing nonchalance. Mrs. Flume handed her the bag and Hope stepped back to let Hermione make her purchases. The two hadn't really spoke much since Hermione told her that her relationship with Fred was pretty much pointless.

"Well... see you around," Hope said and turned to leave.

"Hope, wait," Hermione said. "I shouldn't have said those things last week. Your relationship with Fred is your business..."

"But, you still think it's pointless," Hope said.

Hermione sighed. "Hope... we're friends, right?"

"Ehh, depends on what day of the week it is," she said with a one-shouldered shrug, making Hermione scoff. "Yes, we're friends... though I still plan on slaughtering you in Ancient Runes."

"Not possible," Hermione said easily "But, since we're friends... I don't want to see you get set up for disappointment. Though, admittedly, this probably wouldn't have happened if Ron hadn't stuck his big nose in your business."

Hope fumed at the mention of the youngest Weasley boy. "I actually apologized to that little wipe... And Fred's still being a dick."

"Must be a Weasley trait then," Hermione said with a sour look.

"Ron still being a jerk?" Hope asked, still browsing the shelves for more sweets even though she had already made her purchases.

"Urgh, that doesn't even begin to cover it..."

Hope only gave the other girl a pat on the back, then rose her brows at the items in Hermione's bag. "Toothflossing Stringmints?"

"My parents are muggle dentists. They rather liked these when I bought them as Christmas presents."

"Uh-huh..." _Weird. _

* * *

When Harry finally made it into Honeydukes, he pulled on the Invisibility Cloak and then had to search around for Ron. He saw a few flashes of bright red hair but it was Fred and George who were quickly leaving with Lee Jordan. He froze for a moment when he saw Hermione talking to Hope, but relaxed when he remembered they couldn't see him.

"Well, I'm going to meet the girls for lunch at the Three Broomsticks," Hope was saying. "You want to come with?"

Hermione glanced toward the back of the store, eyes narrowed and Harry had the sinking feeling she was actually on the lookout for him. But she shook her head lightly and turned to Hope. "That would be lovely."

They left the store and Harry followed, looking around for Ron. He spotted him right at the same moment Hermione accidentally ran into him. The two stood in silence while Hope watched the scene awkwardly. For a moment it looked as if Hermione was about to apologize to Ron...

"Watch where you're going!" Ron hissed at her. "On your way to ruin something else around here?"

Inwardly, Harry sighed and rolled his eyes.

Hope's eyes narrowed and it seemed as if she were about to jump to the other girl's defense but Hermione's face went stone hard and she lifted her head haughtily. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did you see Percy and Penelope Clearwater somewhere and you're off to start a fight between them? I know how you enjoy ruining your siblings' relationships so I'll leave you to it. Come along, Hope."

Hope's mouth had dropped open and she let out a giddy laugh, tossing her arm over Hermione's shoulder. "You know you deserved that, right?" she said to the shocked boy before headed toward the pub.

Harry let out a small sigh of exasperation as he went over to Ron. He really wished all of this would just settle already.

"Psst, Ron, it's me."

Ron, for his credit, didn't jump when Harry tapped his shoulder. He only whirled around, eyes wide. "Harry!" he hissed in a whisper. "Where where you?"

"Got held up by Snape," Harry answered.

"Did you see the whole thing with Hermione?" Ron asked, suddenly grumpy. Harry figured it was probably best to lie.

"No... I just got here. Let's go."

About a half hour later after spending money on Honeydukes sweets and Zonko's products, the two boys the two stopped by the post office so Harry could have a good look around.

The two then walked a bit more, considering on passing the Three Broomsticks since it was such a lovely, breezy day, when Ron came to an abrupt halt.

"Oh boy, let's go this way..." Ron said suddenly.

Harry wondered what was with the other boy but stopped when he saw a group of Ravenclaw girls talking and giggling, Cho and Marietta at the helm. Harry wanted to bolt with Ron but then realized this was probably the best chance he would have for finding out anything. When they went into the Three Broomsticks, Harry followed, tugging Ron with him.

"Seriously, Harry?" Ron whispered from the side of his mouth with an eyeroll. "Well, go stand in the corner by their table then... I'll sit at the bar and get a butterbeer. Tug my robe when you're ready to go."

Harry gave Ron a thankful pat on the shoulder and went to stand in the corner to listen to the girls. They took their orders and for a moment were speaking mostly about classes as well as whether or not who would make prefect next year.

"If I had to guess, next year it would be Katie Bell for Gryffindor... The year after would be Hermione Granger for certain," Penelope Clearwater, who was not attached to Percy for once, stated and Cho bristled.

"Can we not mention her?" she asked.

"Cho, do you honestly think that Harry was sneaking around with her behind your back?" The older girl stated "I mean, I haven't seen him with her at all. He spends most of his time with his team or that Weasley boy. She's mainly in the library or sometimes she's with Padma's sister and her group of friends."

"True..." Cho said grudgingly and Harry's heart skipped a beat.

"Where did you even hear that he was running around with her?"

"_I_ heard they were all snuggled in the hospital wing" Marietta said in a superior tone.

"And where did you hear that?" Penelope asked.

"In the bathroom. I heard some girls talking about it in the stalls."

"And who was in the hospital wing after the fight? Aside from Granger?"

Marietta had paused to think and Cho's mouth dropped open and she moaned. "Ugh... Slytherin girls... Parkinson and Greengrass had taken Blustrode to the wing as well..." She then swatted Marietta on the arm. "You were duped by Slytherin girls!"

"And you believed it, so by extension you were duped too," Penelope said easily and Cho flared.

Harry suddenly applauded Percy's taste in women.

"Speaking of Weasleys," a brunette girl said, clearly wanting to dispel the tension "Where is your boyfriend, the Head Boy?"

"He's off with a few boys in his year. I told him I wanted some time with friends. He's really sweet but rather clingy when he's not focused on studies..."

Marietta's brows rose "Really?"

"Also speaking of Weasleys'," another girl said quickly, nodding to a table where Harry saw Hope was finishing off a turkey leg. At her table sat Parvati, Lavender, Padma, Cedric and Hermione "What's going on with Fred Weasley and Hope Mitchell?"

"Didn't Ernie Macmillain ask her out?" a girl voiced, gesturing toward Hope.

"He did but she said she and Fred Weasley were on a break and not broken up," Marietta informed them.

"What even had them on the outs in the first place?" Cho asked, though Harry noted with displeasure that her eyes lingered on Cedric.

"Didn't it have something to do with Ron Weasley's rat that was eaten by Granger's cat?" a different girl asked "He was being really awful to Lavender Brown during Potions, I heard, and Hope told him off."

"Well, there was that," Penelope said "But, also something about Fred thinking that Hope said he wasn't good enough for her."

"More Slytherin dragon dung?" a different girl asked.

"That, and Percy told me something about Fred had heard that Hope had called him all sorts of names in a girl's toilet while complaining to Padma..."

When Marietta shrank in her seat, Penelope rolled her eyes. "Don't you ever stop spreading everyone's business?"

"Well, if they don't want people to hear then they should keep it in their dorms!" Marietta huffed.

_Wow._ Was all Harry could think. He had no words.

"Well, if anything she'll have a new boyfriend by the end of the week. Terry Boot was talking about how pretty he found her. He was thinking of asking her out as well once he heard she and Fred were on the outs," Marietta informed them. "A lot of boys are just dying to date the "Vampire Slayer" now that she's all interesting."

"Is there any gossip you don't know?" Penelope asked in exasperation.

Harry was instantly reminded of an American muggle movie quote. _That's why her hair's so big, it's full of secrets._

"Anyway..." Penelope said, sparing an exasperated look at Marietta before turning to Cho "Are you going to get back with Harry?"

"Well..." Cho said, cheeks flushing in a way that had Harry's heart kick starting "I do miss him... Maybe I'll try to talk with him during dinner when we get back..."

It was like an explosion of butterflies took place in his stomach, along with the sensation of nearly falling down the stairs. Cho was going to try to get back with him! When the conversation drifted to clothing and _Witch Weekly,_ Harry remembered Ron sitting at the bar waiting for him, looking a bit disgruntled. Carefully weaving through the crowd, he gave the redhead's robe a tug. Catching the hint, Ron slid off the seat after draining his tankard and the two exited out the pub.

"So, what happened?" Ron asked.

* * *

"Oh my god, I'm so stuffed..." Hope groaned as she lounged back in her seat, head lolling back. "I just want to take a nap somewhere until it's time to head back..."

"Someone clearly enjoyed the turkey legs and soup..." Cedric said with a smirk.

"And I still have leftovers..." she raised her hand to signal for the barmaid who seemed to appear from thin air to conjure up some to-go cartons.

"Oh my God, I hope I'm that hour-glassy when I grow up," Hope said as she watched Madam Rosmerta leave, earning a laugh from the table.

They noticed a group of Ravenclaw girls at a different table. They smiled and waved at Padma, though Hope noticed Parvati looking particularly frosty. She followed her friend's glare and was surprised to see she was glaring at Cho.

"Everything okay?" Hope asked.

"I'll tell you later," Parvati whispered back.

Shrugging, Hope finished packing her food into the carton and then headed to the door with her friends. She glanced back at Parvati and noted she kept a beady glare on Cho. Did she miss something while she was moping around the school all week?

"So, where to next?" Hope asked, feeling a food-induced coma coming on.

"I'm going to go to Tomes and Scrolls," Hermione said. "I wanted to see what books they have."

"Have fun," Hope said. She seriously just wanted to head back to the castle and go to sleep. "I think I'll head back to the castle... or snooze in one of the carriages."

"But, you haven't been to Zonko's," Parvati said.

"Well, it was nice eating with you all," Cedric said "But, I was hoping to take Padma to Madam Pudifoot's for a cup of coffee."

When Hermione gasped, Lavender let out a gasp mixed with a squeal and Parvati clapped like a happy seal, Hope figured it must've been a romantic spot. Judging by the way Padma lit up, it had to be a romantic spot.

"We'll see you two later, then" Lavender said slyly, nudging a blushing Padma in the ribs before setting off toward Zonko's, Hope and Parvati following.

Once she entered the joke shop, Hope's mouth fell open and she let out a giddy squeal at the sight of all of the gags lining the wall.

"Hope, check this out," Lavender said as she tugged her to a shelf. "Frog spawn soap. Once it's wet it sprouts into tadpoles."

Hope said nothing, only grabbed a basket and placed a bar of soap inside. She would be grounded forever once Auntie Bex took a shower with this but the laugh would be worth it!

"I'm going to get some sugar quills," Lavender said and walked off to a different section of the store.

Once she was gone, Hope nudged Parvati. "Okay, why were you giving Cho the stink-eye?"

Parvati huffed as she placed some Hiccup Sweets in her basket. "Did you see how she was looking at Cedric? I swear, if she makes a move on my sister's boyfriend just because she and Harry are done, I may take a page from your book."

Hope's brows shot up at that "Oh jeez... well, let me know so I can get my sweats and my tennis shoes... These robes are so impractical for fighting." When Parvati let out a light laugh, Hope continued. "But, I don't think Cho's dumb enough to go for Cedric. That would be beyond tacky. To go after your housemate's boyfriend right after breaking up with your own boyfriend? Even then, she's a Ravenclaw, so she's smart enough to know what would happen if she even thought of moving in on one of _my_ friend's territory..."

"That's funny coming from the girl who has to make certain taken boys are looking at her fat behind..."

Hope and Parvati both froze and rolled their eyes at the voice Pansy.

"Can't you read? The sign says no pets allowed..." Parvati said.

"Unless Malfoy's here and you're his seeing eye dog. That would explain a lot considering he would have to be blind to date you," Lavender said as she appeared next to her friends.

Pansy only sneered and Hope noted with some surprise that she was without her usual pack of Slytherin girls or her Malfoy ornament.

"Oh, you think you're smart, Brown, just because now you're getting attention after the Black attack? Go back to being forgotten about, why don't you? It's no wonder you and Weasley are getting along. Are you going to be his replacement for the mudblood now that he's not talking to her?" She then ignored Lavender's eyeroll and focused on Hope. "Speaking of replacements, are you buying that stuff for your Weasley so he won't find your replacement? Or are you going to hop over to Macmillain?"

"Leave him out of this," Hope said, voice dangerously low.

"So, you'll gladly defend him but not your 'boyfriend?'" Pansy let out delighted giggle. "No wonder I saw him with your replacement just now..."

Hope's head snapped up and her eyes widened as did Pansy's grin.

"Perhaps you didn't buy him enough presents to keep him around? But, you might want to check by Dervish and Banges... it's around the corner!" Pansy called gleefully as Hope shoved past her, the other girls following.

"Hope, she's full of rubbish..." Lavender said once they caught up to her. "Plus, you're going the wrong way."

Hope halted then changed directions only to stop cold once again.

There, standing in the front of the small shop was Fred and some blond fifth year Hufflepuff. He was standing leisurely against the bricks and the girl was clearly flirting with him.

Her stomach knotted, something inside her twisted and she felt the sudden urge to put her fist through something, preferably that little bitch's face.

"Hope, don't..." Parvati warned her, gripping her arm. "Let's just go back to the castle, okay? Don't even give him the satisfaction..."

Lavender then tugged her arm as well and Hope allowed them to lead her back toward the path toward Hogwarts, but not before whipping out her wand and casting a Jelly-Legs Jinx at the girl, delighting at the sound of her crashing to the ground and into a puddle.

"What?" Hope said at Parvati's incredulous look as they headed up the path. "It's not like I killed anyone."

When Parvati and Lavender shook their heads, Hope continued one, stopping when she felt someone watching her.

Turning, she glanced toward an alley, she relaxed when she didn't see anyone and continued onward.

She never noticed the black dog watching her.

* * *

"So, what has you in a mood?"

Harry and Ron had visited most of the village and were now standing near the Shrieking Shack, the most haunted building in Britain. Ron told him about the place, how even the Hogwarts ghosts won't enter it and that even though Fred and George have tried, they couldn't break into it. That's when Ron got strangely quiet and his mouth tightened in a frown, prompting Harry to ask him what was wrong.

"Nothing..."

"Is it because Hermione said what she said and Hope said you deserved it?"

"I thought you didn't hear that!"

"I lied..."

"It's not like I've seen Fred all broken up about it..."

"Well... he has been off during practice all week... Oliver's actually getting really mad about it."

That had Ron's eyes widening. "Oh..." He was then quiet for a moment. "Do you think I deserved what Hermione said...?"

"Er..." Luckily before Harry had to answer, the heard the sound of people talking. A group of students were climbing the other side of the hill toward the house.

It was Malfoy and his lackeys.

"... don't know what's Pansy's bloody problem... She keeps bringing up the Mitchell girl. Don't get me wrong, she is fetching but does Pansy really think I would look at her for more than ten seconds after she's been rolling around with that blood traitor Weasley and hanging around the mudblood... And then when I try to actually spend time with her today, she's nowhere to be found. I saw Daphne and Millicent and she wasn't with them" there was a scoff. "But, anyway... I should be receiving an owl from my father soon. He had to go to the hearing to tell them how I couldn't use my arm for three months."

Crabbe and Goyle snickered.

"I wish I could hear that hairy oaf try to defend that bloody chicken. That hippogriff's as good as dead."

He stopped short when he noticed Ron then broke into a grin.

"What are you doing up here, Weasley? Dreaming you could have a house like this?" he gestured to the ramshackle house behind him. "It would be a step up from the rat trap you live in? Did you ever have your mum replace your rat? I'm sure all she would have to do is look under the sofa, if you even have one."

Ron's ears went bright red and he took a step forward but Harry took a hold of his arm.

"Leave him to me."

He crept behind Malfoy and scooped up a big ball of mud from the path...

"Don't you have an ugly girlfriend to ignore?" Ron asked Malfoy in a bored voice, mostly to make certain the other boy stayed focused on him.

"Last I checked, I wasn't dating your sister," the Slytherin retorted and smirked at the look of outrage on Ron's face. "And speaking of pathetic herd animals, we were just discussing your friend Hagrid's hippogriff. Do you think the big lummox will cry when they cut off his hippogriff's head?"

**SPLAT!**

Malfoy staggered forward as the mud hit him. His hair was dripping with the sludge. Before the boy could even question what happened another mud ball hit him, this time in the back. He stepped forward and Harry stuck his foot out, tripping the boy so he landed face first into a puddle.

Ron was barely able to stand he was laughing so hard. He had to hold onto the post of the fence and he actually had tears falling from the mirth.

"Who did that?!" Malfoy demanded as he staggered to his feet.

"Well, this is the most haunted building in Britain..." Ron said easily.

Crabbe and Goyle stood dumbly, there giant muscles useless against spirits. However, for some ridiculous reason Goyle decided to try and swung blindly, the momentum throwing him off and he tumbled down the hill, coating himself in sludge and grime. Ron, at that point, nearly fell himself he was laughing so hard. Harry, who was doubled over with silent laughter, managed to scoop up another handful of sludge that smelled really foul and hurled it at Malfoy, catching him dead in the face.

This time Crabbe caught some as Goyle was still staggering up the hill. Malfoy wiped the sludge from his face and pointed some seven feet away from Harry. "It came from over there!"

Crabbe started forward, swinging blindly but caught nothing. Then, his small beady eyes landed on Ron and he started toward him but Harry stuck his foot out to stop him.

Crabbe's hand flailed and caught the edge of the invisibility cloak.

The cloak slid off and Harry felt the cool air hit his face and his eyes met Malfoy's.

For a moment all they could do was stare at each other.

"ARGH!" Malfoy yelled and turned tail and ran down the hill. Crabbe followed as did Goyle who had finally gotten to his feet.

"Harry!" Ron yelled. "Go! If Malfoy tells anyone-"

Harry didn't need to be told twice. He pulled the cloak back up around his face and took off toward Hogsmeade.

* * *

"So, I turn down a really sweet guy and what does he do? Flirt with some bitch!"

Hope, who had stormed back to the school with her friends in tow, was now angrily pacing the halls, red-faced with fury. Parvati and Lavender walked worriedly beside her.

"And she wasn't even that cute!"

They made their way to Gryffindor Tower to put away their purchases. When they entered the dorm they found Hermione already there, reading a book she bought.

"What happened?" Hermione asked without looking up.

"Fred had some cow flirting with him," Hope fumed as she tore into her leftovers.

"Patricia Stimpson from Hufflepuff?" another voice asked and they looked up to see Ginny standing in the doorway.

"That's her name?" Hope asked.

"How'd you know?" Parvati asked at the same time.

The small girl scoffed. "I heard her in the girl's bathroom, saying how she was going to make a move on Fred as she's always fancied him. She saw her chance since you two were on the outs. But, I don't think Fred likes her like that. He probably wants to make you jealous. He got really mad when he saw you leave with the Hall with Ernie. What happened by the way?"

"Ernie asked her out and she told him she was still with Fred... And now you're brother's being a git..." Hermione answered and stood, taking her book and her heavy bag with her. "I'm headed to the library for some quiet."

The other girls watched her leave and then Ginny continued. "Fred misses you though. George said he was messing up during Quidditch practice all week and Oliver Wood's in a right state over it. He said that Wood said Fred needed to figure out his issues because he wasn't going to lose the House Cup over some relationship drama."

Hope sat silently for a moment, still fuming, then stood as well. "I'm going to find something to do or I'll go batty..."

At that moment someone else poked their head into the room, a small first year girl with dark hair. Hope remembered her from the sorting that her name was Romilda Vane. "Excuse me, Neville Longbottom wanted to know if you would help him with his vampire essay?"

Hope rolled her eyes and sighed, but then shrugged, figuring it would give her something to do. "All right, tell him I'll meet him in the library."

The girl nodded and left the room and the moment Hope finished her leftovers she was making her way to the library, still irritated.

"Hope, can I talk with you a moment?"

_Oh, now what?!_

Hope looked up to see Katie Bell waving her toward a corridor. Curious, she headed over to the older girl. "What's up?"

Katie motioned for her to follow her and led her to a classroom. Hope entered and stopped short when she saw Oliver Wood standing by the door and Fred sitting on the teacher's desk. Apparently he wasn't expecting her by the way his eyes widened.

"Katie..."

"What the-"

"No, honestly, this is getting annoying!" Oliver said. He then pointed at Fred, "You miss her and it's been throwing you off during practice all week. We're this close to winning the cup and I'm not having that ruined because of girlfriend drama." He turned on Hope, "And you, stop flirting with other boys just to get back at him for being an ass! Yes, Fred you're being an ass! She apologized and your brat of brother didn't deserve one, especially since he's all buddy-buddy with the girl who he made cry in the first place! So you stop flirting with other girls to make her jealous!"

"Oliver... not really the best tactic..." Katie said with a face-palm.

"I didn't flirt with anyone!" Both Fred and Hope yelled at the same time only to glare at each other.

"You were all over Macmillain!" Fred yelled at her.

"He asked me out and I turned him down!" Hope hissed. "And what about that Hufflepuff cow you were all over today!?"

"Dumb move, Mitchell! You should've said yes!" A random girl called from the hall.

"MIND YOUR BUSINESS!" Oliver yelled at the girl before slamming the door.

"Well, what about all of the names you called me to Padma in the girls' bathroom?" Fred countered.

"You were being an ass!"

"Fred, shut it, considering the names you called to us on Tuesday..." Katie said with a huff.

Hope's eyes narrowed and her temper flared. "What'd you call me, Fred?"

"Considering you called me names first, you don't have any room to get mad!"

"Both of you, shut it before I hex you both by switching your genitals!" Oliver yelled, stepping in between them. That had both of their mouths snapping shut. "You two are going to sit here and talk it out, and then either break up for good or get back together but this 'break' rubbish needs to stop! Because, I swear if this... drama messes you up during the match against Slytherin and you let Harry get hit by a Bludger and Malfoy grabs the Snitch... I don't know what I'll do!" He then made his way to the door and left, Katie following, only to poke his head back in "Fix it, damn it!"

The two just stared at the door in shock. Hope, for her part was so stunned that he normal reaction of wrath was shut off. She turned to look at Fred who wore the same shocked look on his face, but soon his mouth quirked and he broke into a laughing fit.

Hope stared at him in confusion, but soon she also broke into giggles.

"Wow... I am so glad I'm not on the team. You have to deal with that all the time?"

"Pretty much..."

Their laughter soon dissolved and then the awkwardness reared its head.

"So... you were being a douche just because you heard I ranted to Padma?"

Fred sighed. "Not just that... It wasn't the fact that you ranted. I know girls complain to their friends. I do have a sister, remember?"

"Well, then what?" Hope asked and got the impression he was doing that thing so many teen magazines told her about. That thing where the guy didn't want to say what made him upset because he was afraid it would make him look like a chump. So, she thought back to what Padma told her.

"Wait... is this about you thinking that I think you're not good enough for me?" When he said nothing, her mouth fell open. "When did I ever say that? Who even told you that?"

"I heard it in my Herbology class."

"Who even said that?" Hope asked, feeling the need to punch someone's teeth in. "Do you have Herbology with Slytherin or something?"

"No, Ravenclaw."

That threw her off and she thought of the fourth year Ravenclaws she knew. There was Cho Chang and...

"Marietta Edgecombe said it, didn't she?" She shook her head, a mirthless chuckle escaping her. "She was in the bathroom when I was ranting to Padma so she must've told and then made it worse than what it really was." She took a deep breath. "Okay, first of all, I never said that. I don't think that. Marietta's the school gossip, remember? And I think I need to go and rip her tongue out..." She then turned to leave only to be stopped by a pair of arms wrapping around her from behind.

"Don't go getting expelled on my account," he said, resting his chin atop her head. She flushed happily despite herself at the feel of his arms around her again after so long.

"I'm sorry for being a royal git... And don't worry about Marietta. I'll deal with her myself. And I'll smack my brother for good measure. I'm honestly surprised you didn't do it."

"Only because he was nearly brutally murdered and stuff..." Hope said as she leaned into his embrace. "Otherwise I would've." She then sighed. "I'm sorry about the hip show when Ernie asked me out..."

"I wanted to tear that brat limb from limb... But, I settled on flicking frog spawn into his lunch."

"Fred!"

"What? Like you can talk after casting a tripping jinx on that girl in Hogsmeade!"

Hope flushed. "Ehh... you saw that, huh?"

"Mm-hmm..." Fred sounded way too pleased with himself. Then he sighed. "And... I didn't flirt back but I saw you watching and I wanted to make you jealous... Sorry about that, I was a right ass..." Hope snorted in agreement. "But, I have a question. Rumors are floating around that Draco Malfoy fancies you... And I caught him looking at you a couple of times..."

"Ugh, dude, have you seen the hag he's dating? He probably fancies you at this point."

"URGH!"

"Although... that'd be kind of cute..." Hope giggled.

"Okay, that's enough from you," Fred said before attacking her sides with tickles.

Hope squealed and tried to get away, turning in his grasp. His arms then pulled her closer to him and she rested her head against his chest.

"I missed you..." she said and sighed happily when his fingers slid into her hair.

"I missed you too..."

He tilted her chin up and Hope's heart raced when he leaned in and kissed her. Suddenly, all of the drama of the past week didn't matter. She might have to get Oliver a present too.

"So..." Fred said. "What now?"

Hope flushed but then rolled her eyes as she remembered she had somewhere to be.

"I actually promised Neville I'd help him with his Defense Against the Dark Arts essay..."

Fred sighed but let her out of his grasp. "Ohh... all right..." he pouted.

Hope gave him a parting kiss and pulled away. "I need to head to the library. I'll see you later."

"All right..." He gave her one last kiss that had her toes curling before he pulled away. "See you later."

Hope left the room, practically skipping. She and Fred were back together. Their issues had been fixed!

She made her way down the hall, having to dodge when Snape emerged and she ducked behind a suit of armor, not wanting to get a random detention for something she didn't do.

She saw the Potions Master head in a different direction and for some ridiculous reason she couldn't place her finger on, she felt the need to follow him.

She bolted, hiding behind various things such as suits of armor and in empty classrooms. When he finally came to a halt at the third floor near the statue of the One-Eyed Witch, Hope ducked into the empty classroom.

_This is stupid... I should just go to the library. Neville's waiting on me..._

Just when she was about to call it quits when she heard the sound of something opening and then the unmistakeable sound of Snape's voice.

"So... Come with me, Potter."

**Okay, okay.. No one kill me. Yes, this chapter is full of teeny bopper drama... It'll get better soon, I promise. And I know a few people were hoping Fred and Hope had called it quits, but yeah... They got back together... Trust me, it won't last. I figure since Oliver cared the most about winning the House Cup in book three, he would get in the middle of relationship drama if it messed up any of his players during practice. And also, if it seems like I'm bashing certain characters, I'm not trying to. It may seem like that come 4****th**** year but its not what I'm aiming for. In some future chaps it may seem like I'm bashing Ron, Fred, Ginny or Hermione or some other characters but that is not my aim. I'm actually indifferent towards most of them and I actually like Fred... but, remember... dumb shit happens at ages 14-18 and the opportunities afforded to them with the introduction of other characters were never there before. Also, check my earlier author note. Do you think I should break this up into different stories with each year or keep it as one whole story? Let me know with your review! **


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or The Originals. They both belong to their rightful owners. **

**A/N: So sorry for the delay. So much drama going on! To make it up to you, I'm not stopping this chapter until the end of the Quidditch Final! Also, when I get to final, it might seem that I'm copying much from the book (I'm not good a sports commentary, sue me!) when it comes to Lee Jordan's commentary. I apologize but, sports is really not my bailiwick. **

Harry had hurried back to Hogwarts as fast as he could through the tunnel, though it felt like a life time until he reached the end of it. He stashed his cloak in a shadowy corner and began to climb up the chute. Once he reached the inside of the witch's hump he climbed out and closed the hump. Once he jumped from behind the statue to make his way to the common room, he heard footsteps approaching.

Harry's stomach dropped to his shoes. Dear god, it was Snape.

The man had a look of suppressed triumph as he stopped in front of Harry. "So..."

Harry tried to look innocent despite the sweat on his face and the grime on his hands. He shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Come with me, Potter..."

* * *

Hope eased out of the classroom, poking her head around to see Snape leading Harry down the stairs. She waited until she could no longer hear their footsteps and followed as quietly as she could, hoping to tone down her usual loud clomping. She figured they were headed to the dungeons. They were either headed to the Potions room or Snape's office.

_This is ridiculous. Why am I even bothering? It's not like Harry hasn't gotten in trouble with Snape before. _

She could hear the sound of Snape's voice. She heard bits and pieces as she got closer. Something about Malfoy and Hogsmeade. Malfoy had seen his head absent his body.

_Wait, what?_

She then heard Harry as he tried, and failed to talk his way out of it. He said he had been in the Tower but when Snape asked if anyone could confirm that he clearly choked.

A scraping sound from behind her had her whirling around. She tip-toed back to see what that sound was but saw nothing. Frowning, she made her way back to where she heard the voices. She could now hear Snape's voice, taunting Harry. Something about 'Famous Harry Potter' and 'letting ordinary people worry about his safety.' As well as some choice words about the boy's deceased father that had her mouth dropping open.

_Low blow, dick!_

She stepped, slowly and quietly down the hall, grazing past a suit of armor.

"SHUT UP!"

Hope jumped and her mouth fell open at the sound of Harry's enraged voice. She strained to listen to what else was being said.

"_What did you say to me, Potter?"_

"I told you to shut up about my dad!" Harry yelled and Hope's brows nearly hit her hairline. "I know the truth! He saved your life! Dumbledore told me! You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for my dad!"

_Well, that escalated quickly..._

"And did the headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life?" the man asked in low voice. "Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for Potter's delicate ears?"

Her deep nosiness perked up at this and she found herself straining to hear even more. She heard Snape taunting Harry again, this time about the conditions of Harry's father saving the disgusting man's life, that he and his friends tried to play a joke on him that would've resulted in his death if Harry's father hadn't gotten cold feet at the last minute.

_Well, that was vague..._

"Turn your pockets, Potter!" There was a pause. "Turn them out or we go straight to the headmaster! Pull them out, Potter!"

The sudden rise of his voice startled the girl. She jumped and knocked over the suit of armor in the process which fell with the loud, echoing clang.

"Oh... shit..."

Harry, who had since had his wrath replaced with trepidation, jumped at the loud clanging from outside. Snape's head lifted sharply.

"Turn everything out of your pockets, now..." he said, eyes narrowing on the door before turning back to Harry.

Harry did as he was told and Snape took the items and promptly went to the doorway.

"Miss Mitchell, get in here now."

Harry turned at that. What was Hope doing here?

The brunette appeared, sheepish smile on her face.

"Sorry, Professor... I'm a klutz..."

"What are you doing here, Miss Mitchell?" the man asked, eyes narrowing at Hope.

"I was looking for Harry," she said easily.

"And how did you know he was here?" Snape asked suspiciously.

"I heard him yelling. Honestly, I think the whole castle did. He was supposed to meet me and Neville in the library twenty minutes ago." She then narrowed her eyes at Harry and folded her arms over her chest. "Did you forget?" she asked in an annoyed voice.

Harry could've hugged her at the moment! He schooled his expression into one of sheepishness. "Sorry... I was caught by him..." he gestured at Snape.

Hope rolled her eyes. "What'd you do now?"

That was the wrong thing to say it appeared. "That's exactly what I'm attempting to find out," Snape said and placed the contents in his hands on the desk, holding up the Zonko's bag. "Mr. Potter is not allowed in Hogsmeade, yet he is carrying around a bag from Zonko's. You say you were supposed to meet with him yet I know for a fact your were in Hogsmeade yourself. The girls of my house could not stop talking about how you allegedly jinxed a Hufflepuff girl over Fred Weasley as well as tripped her. That'll be five points for that, Miss Mitchell. But, that doesn't explain the fact that if you were there and he was, supposedly, here."

Harry watched as Hope's face remained impassive but he saw her fingers twitch at the accusations. Inwardly, he prayed to any listening deity for her to talk him out of this. If she did, he would buy her all the candy she could eat from the trolly on the return trip from school. He'd even buy her a present from Diagon Alley. When was her birthday? May? She said she was a Taurus...

"I was upset and I came back here about an hour ago. I think a jillion people saw me storm off with my friends. I came back here and Neville asked me to help him with his essay on vampires. I saw Harry and asked him if he'd come with."

At that moment, Harry could've kissed her.

"One would think the resident vampire slayer would be enough help for Longbottom's essay."

Hope smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah, but Harry's the best student in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Honestly, he makes Hermione look a tad weak."

_Don't let her hear you say that..._

Snape scoffed at that and held up the bag from Zonko's again, raising a questioning brow to Harry.

"Ron gave me that stuff from the last trip," Harry said easily.

"And you've carried it around all this time? How touching..."

Harry and Hope quickly exchanged looks but Harry then paled when Snape lifted the blank map.

"And what is this?"

"Spare bit of parchment," Harry said easily.

"Really? Surely you don't need such an old piece of parchment? Why don't I just throw it away?" He moved toward the fire.

"No!" Harry said quickly, startling Hope.

"No?" Snape asked nastily. "Is this another treasured gift from Mr. Weasley? Or is it something else? Something written in Invisible Ink? Instructions on how to get into Hogsmeade without passing the dementors?"

Harry said nothing. He couldn't even hope for Hope to bail him out of this one. One glance at her told him she was as confused as ever.

"Let me see..." Snape smoothed the map out on his desk and pulled out his wand. "Reveal your secret!" he touched the parchment with his wand.

Nothing happened. Harry shut his hands between his knees to stop them from shaking.

"Show yourself!" Snape commanded, tapping the map sharply.

Nothing happened. Harry took deep calming breaths while Hope was fighting back giggles. She had no idea...

"Professor Severus Snape, master of this school commands you to yield the information you conceal!"

Harry thought he heard Hope scoff at Snape's declaration of being 'master of this school' but wasn't able to think on it for long.

As though an invisible hand were writing it, words appeared on the surface of the map.

"Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."

Snape froze. Hope's jaw dropped. Harry stared, dumbstruck, at the message. But the map still had more to say.

"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git."

Hope was now shaking with suppressed mirth. Harry would have laughed as well if the situation weren't so serious. And it seemed the map was not done.

"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor."

Harry shut his eyes while small amused squeaks escaped the girl next to him. When he opened them, the map had one more thing to add.

"Mr. Wormtail bid, Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball."

Harry waited for the inevitable.

"So..." Snape said, narrowing his eyes on the shivering Hope before looking at Harry "We'll see about this."

He went to his fire, grabbed a handful of glittering powder from a jar nearby and tossed it into the fire.

"Lupin!" Snape yelled, startling the two teens. "I want a word!"

A large shape appeared in the fire, revolving very fast. Seconds later, Professor Lupin climbed out of the fireplace, brushing ash from his shabby robes.

"You called, Severus?" he asked mildly. His eyes briefly flicked to Hope, then Harry.

"Yes, I did..." Snape said, his face full of fury as he strode back to his desk. "I have just asked Potter to empty his pockets. He was carrying this."

He pointed at the parchment where the words of the Messers were still shining. A strange, closed look appeared on Lupin's face.

"Well?" Snape asked.

Lupin continued to stare at the map. Harry had the impression that he was thinking quickly.

"Well?" Snape said. "Ths parchment is full of dark magic, clearly. This is your supposed area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter got such a thing?"

Lupin looked up and in Harry's direction, his glance warning the boy to be quiet.

"Full of dark magic?" Lupin repeatedly. "It looks to me like a piece of parchment that insults anyone who reads it. Childish, really, but not dangerous. I imagine Harry got it from a joke shop-"

"Indeed? You think a joke shop would supply him with such a thing? If that's so, then lets test it on someone else, why don't we? Mitchell!" Snape barked, leaving off the title of 'Miss' he normally tacked at the beginning of her name. "Come here. Take out your wand and demand this parchment reveal its secrets to you. Now."

Hope swallowed and moved forward, exchanging a worried glance with Harry but did as she was told. She tapped her wand to the parchment. "Reveal your secrets to me!" she commanded.

Nothing happened.

"I must not be strong enough..." she said quickly.

"Agreeable, but try again."

Hope's face went red with wrath but she tried again. "Reveal your secrets to me, Hope Mitchell of this school!"

The words that insulted Snape disappeared and were replaced with different words.

"Mr. Moony would like to compliment Hope and ask that she comes back once she properly fills out a brassiere."

Hope's mouth dropped in indignation. Harry pursed his lips together and decided he owed Hope more than candy for this. And the map wasn't done.

"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that her arse looks fat and she may want to consider a diet."

"Son of a-" Hope started but clamped her mouth shut when she remembered the two teachers in the room. And the map still had more to say.

"Mr. Padfoot would like to add that Hope should really stop pretending to be things that she is not, the silly cow."

"Mr. Wormtail bids Hope good day and advise her to stop dressing as a boy and permanently transfigure herself into one."

"OH SCREW YOU!" Hope yelled at the parchment.

"Ah, well see?" Lupin said mildly, placing a calming hand on the girl's shoulder. "Just a piece of parchment that insults the reader."

"Really?" Snape asked, "Are you sure he did not get it _directly_ from the manufactures?"

Harry had no idea what he was talking about. Apparently, neither did Lupin. Hope was too busy fuming to care.

"You mean," Lupin began "that Harry received this by Mr. Wormtail or one of these other people? Harry, do you know these men?"

"No," Harry said quickly.

"You see, Severus?" Lupin turned back to Snape. "It looks like a Zonko's product to me."

"Mitchell, did you visit Zonko's today?" Snape asked.

Hope recovered from her annoyance. "For a minute but then left because of boyfriend drama... Though I did buy a lot of Frog Spawn soap I plan on using on family."

Right at that moment, Ron came rushing into the office. He was out of breath and clutching his chest. "I-bought-Harry-that-stuff," he gasped. "Zonko's... ages ago..."

"Well!" Lupin said cheerfully "That settles that. I'll take this back, shall I?" He took the map and placed it in his robes. "Harry, Ron, Hope, please come with me. I need a word about my vampire essay. Please, excuse us, Severus."

The group left, not sparing Snape a look as they left the office. Lupin took them all the way to the entrance hall before speaking. Harry turned to Lupin.

"Professor, I-"

"I don't want to hear and explanation." Lupin said shortly then turned to Hope. "Hope, head back to your common room. I want a word with these two."

"But-"

"Now." He said sharply and the girl startled, not used to that tone from the man. She left, sparing a worried glance to Harry. Once she was gone, Lupin glanced about.

"I don't want to know how this map came into your possession. Yes, I know it is a map," he said at Harry and Ron's amazed looks. "I know that it was confiscated by Mr Filch years ago. And I am shocked that you didn't hand it in. Especially after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. And I can't let you have it back, Harry."

Harry figured as much. He was too eager for an explanation to protest.

"Why did Snape think I got it from the manufactures?" he asked.

"Because," Lupin began but hesitated "these people would have wanted to lure you from the castle. They'd think it entertaining."

"Do you know them?" Ron and Harry asked, impressed.

"We've met," Lupin said shortly, looking at Harry seriously. "Don't expect me to cover for you again. While I can't make you take Sirius Black seriously, I would have at least thought that what you have heard when the dementors come close to you would have had more of an effect on you. Your parents gave their lives to save you, Harry. A poor way to repay them, gambling their sacrifice for abag of magic tricks."

Lupin left and Harry was left feeling worse than ever. Slowly, he and Ron made their way up the stairs, passing the One-Eyed Witch. His cloak was still at the bottom but he wasn't about to retrieve it.

"It's my fault. I talked you into going. Lupin's righ, it was stupid and-"

He stopped talking; they reached the corridor where the security trolls paced and Hermione was walking toward them with Hope. The brunette had her arm around the other girl's shoulder and it was clear from the look on Hermione's face that she had either heard everything or Hope had told her. Harry's stomach dropped. Was she going to tell Professor McGonagall?

"Come to gloat?!" Ron hissed once they stopped in front of the boys. "Or have you been to tell on us?"

"Do you ever stop talking?!" Hope snarled but Hermione put a placating hand on the American's shoulder.

"No..." she said through tears. "I just wanted to tell you... Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed." She then held out a letter which Harry took. It was damp from enormous tear drops which had smudged the ink so that it was difficult to read.

_Dear Hermione, _

_We lost. I'm allowed to bring him back to Hogwarts. The execution date isn't fixed yet. Beaky enjoyed London. Shame that pretty vampire couldn't meet him. I won't forget all the help you gave us._

_Hagrid. _

"Are you serious?!" Hope cried. Apparently she hadn't seen the note. She snatched the note from Harry and read it herself to make certain she wasn't seeing things. "This can't be happening!"

"Buckbeak isn't dangerous!" Harry declared.

"Malfoy's dad frightened the Committe into it," Hermione informed them. "They're a bunch of old fools and scared."

"And he has money..." Hope growled under her breath.

Hermione nodded. "There's going to be an appeal but I don't see it doing much good. Nothing will have changed."

"Yeah, it will!" Ron decalred. "You won't have to do all the work alone this time, Hermione. I'll help."

Hermione gasped and threw herself at Ron, startling the boy. She broke down into sobs, burying her face in Ron's neck. Ron patted her back awkwardly and looked to Harry who was of no help to the situation.

"Ron, I'm sorry about Scabbers!" she sobbed.

"Oh... well... he was old..." Ron said lamely though relieved when Hermione drew away. "Who knows? Maybe I'll get an owl now..."

"Pfft, like you deserve one..." Hope snorted and leaned against the railing but had to move when the staircases moved again.

Ron whirled on her but Hermione patted his arm. "Ron, be nice... She and your brother are back together..."

"No thanks to you..." Hope huffed.

"Don't we have more important stuff to worry about than relationship drama?" Harry grumbled.

Ron didn't seem to hear him but kept his eyes on Hope. He stepped forward and to Harry and Hermione's astonishment, offered his hand to her.

"I'm sorry I was a git and tried to mess up your relationship with Fred..."

Hope glanced at the proffered appendage, then Ron's blue eyes. She seemed to have wanted to tell Ron to stick it where the sun don't shine until Harry gave her an elbow to the ribs along with Hermione.

"Ugh, fine!" She took the proffered limb and shook it. "Apology accepted. But, only because you offered to save Buckbeak..."

The quartet med their way into the common room after that to brainstorm ways on how to save Buckbeak, all four sitting on Harry's bed. Hermione had brought back various volumes she had checked out from the library, pouring over them along with the others. Hope, the resident animal lover of the group, wondered if they could free him.

"It's impossible," Hermione said with a pitying look. "Not with the extra security around the castle. We wouldn't even be able to get to Hagrid's, let alone set Buckbeak free..."

Hope sighed and leaned back against the pillows as Hermione went over Hagrid's letter again.

"Wait? What vampire?" Hermione asked suddenly.

"Eh?" Ron asked.

"Hagrid's letter. It mentioned a pretty vampire."

"Oh..." Ron glanced uneasily at Hope. "Well... promise you won't get mad?" he said to Hope.

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because one tried to kill Parvati?" Harry offered.

"Okay..." she said warily.

"Hagrid said that a vampire was helping Dumbledore look for Sirius Black because she has heightened senses. Apparently she liked the unicorns and hippogriffs, according to Hagrid. We think he fancies her."

Hermione and Hope exchanged blank looks at that.

"Oh... Well, Hagrid always had a thing for dangerous creatures..." Hermione muttered.

"No words... My words have failed me." was all Hope had to say.

"I'm going to get some dinner..." Hermione said quickly.

"Yeah... I need food after hearing that," Hope added.

* * *

"So... what'd you do?"

"Huh?"

"Okay, scratch that. I know what you did but how?"

"Er...?"

Harry was seated next to Hope during dinner. Ron and Hermione were busily brainstorming about Buckbeak and didn't seem to hear what they were talking about.

"When Snape had you in his office. You totally found a way to sneak into Hogsmeade, didn't you?"

Harry choked on his pumpkin juice. "How-"

"I was eavesdropping outside, duh."

He had figured as much. "I did... sneak into Hogsmeade..."

"How?"

When Harry hesitated, Hope rolled her eyes. "Fine, don't tell me... But, I'm going to guess it has something to do with an Invisibility Cloak?"

Harry's eyes widened and she took a bite of her chicken, smirking at his surprise. "You need to really look around when talking about some stuff. I heard you mention a cloak in the common room awhile back. No worries. Your secret dies with me."

Harry was silent at that, not knowing if he should trust her. Though, she did try to bail him out when they were in Snape's office. And suffered a harsh insult-fest at the hands of the Map.

The Map! He remembered what it showed before he had entered Hogsmeade. Hope Mikaelson.

He wondered if he should ask her about that. If anything it might have had to do with a custody battle. Or a marriage within the family.

He turned to her, still debating on if he should ask her when Fred Weasley appeared and squeezed between Harry and Hope and the girl's mouth became occupied the older boy's lips instead of her food.

Harry shifted uncomfortably and found his mind soon occupied with pressing thoughts. While happy for her, could barely concentrate after the bombshell that Hermione had dropped on them about Buckbeak as well as his map being taken away.

"Harry?"

The brunette boy looked up to see Cho standing behind him, her cheeks flushed pink. Her eyes flicked to Hermione who was deep in conversation with Ron before going back to him.

"Can we talk?"

That's right! She had said she was going to try and get back with him. Harry glanced to his friends but they had suddenly made themselves scarce, Hermione tugging Ron to speak with Lavender.

"Sure..." he said uncertainly and she took Ron's vacated spot.

Both were quite though Cho glanced at Hope and Fred as the couple removed themselves from the table and scampered out of the Hall.

"So, they're back together..." she said as a way to break the silence.

"Yeah... Oliver made them talk out their problems. Fred was messing up a lot during practice because he missed her..."

"Hmm..." Cho swallowed for a moment. "Harry... I'm sorry for freaking out on you the day after the match... I was stupid and my friend got caught up in Slytherin-started rumors and-" "She then grabbed his hand and tugged. "Can we talk about this elsewhere?"

Nodding, he rose from his seat and the two headed towards, and he was seeing a pattern here, that same classroom as before. Finding it empty, the two went inside and Cho turned to him.

"Harry..."

"It's all right... I forgive you..."

The girl beamed at him then tossed her arms around him. After the horrible day he had, having Cho hug him lifted a considerable weight from his shoulders.

Her hand slid from its place on his back up to his neck, gently tugging him down as she rose on her toes. Harry swallowed but leaned down to meet her mouth with his, shivering when her tongue swiped over his bottom lip. His mind went delightfully blank where there was no Map that had been taken from him. The kiss soon intensified, Harry's hand buried in her dark hair and the other wrapped around her waist. Cho was making sounds that let him know that he was doing everything right. Remembering what happened the first time she kissed him in this room, he decided to try something. Pulling back a bit and remembering the scene from a movie he caught Dudley watching over the summer, he kissed his way down her chin and to her neck, delighting at the gasp she made and her hands tightening their grip.

"Whoa!"

The voice that was neither of theirs had them scrambling apart. For one horrified moment he thought it was a Slytherin, but it seemed fate smiled on him... sort of.

"Hope! Fred!"

Hope looped her arm through Fred's who was smirking at the two. "Ah... I think we should go to the common room... It's probably empty..."

"Mm-hmm..." Fred agreed, still smirking.

They turned to leave but Harry knew from the smirk Hope sent him that he would never, _ever_ live this down.

* * *

"So... you and Cho back together?"

The moment Harry returned to the common room, he was bombarded by a giddy Hope. She was curled on one of the couches, Ancient Runes book in her lap and wide grin on her mouth. Harry rolled his eyes at her expression and flopped down next to her.

"So, you and Fred are back together?" he asked in retaliation.

"Yep! Oddly enough, Oliver was wingman..."

"I believe it..." Harry smirked and snatched the bag of muggle chips from her hand.

"Go ahead, help yourself..." she said sarcastically.

"So kind of you to offer," he retorted with a smile and loud crunch.

Hope scoffed and went back to her book. Harry stopped crunching for a bit and regarded the girl.

"Hope..."

"Hmmm?"

"Thanks for trying to bail me out in Snape's office."

She smiled and looked up briefly. "No problem. Sorry it didn't work..."

"No problem. It could've been worse. I could've been expelled. I owe you."

"Lupin was the one who bailed you out, not me..."

"But you still tried... I owe you. When's your birthday?"

Hope's eyes widened momentarily. "You don't have to get me anything..."

Harry then smirked. "See, its not so much about you then it is about the random thing I prayed to. Last thing I need is some weirdness worthy of _The Exorcist_ happening because I didn't keep a promise."

"Nice job, goofy..." Hope huffed but giggled. "My birthday is May second." She was quiet for a moment before voicing something else. "So, what happened for you to get caught?" Hope asked.

Harry sighed and continued to help himself to her snacks. He figured if she knew about the cloak there would be no harm in telling her about what he did while under it. When he relayed the story, to her she had nearly toppled off the couch.

"Oh god, I would've paid to see that!" she snickered, wiping a stray tear from her eye as she imagine Malfoy getting bombed with sludgeballs.

"Malfoy apparently thinks your fetching..." Harry told her. "I heard him say it. Pansy Parkinson has been complaining to him about how he looks at you."

Hope snickered but said nothing else on the matter though he figured there was more to it.

"You don't fancy him, do you?" he asked in disgust and she tossed another parchment ball at him.

"About as much as I 'fancy' getting malaria. Ew!"

* * *

When Monday finally rolled around and Hope, who had woken up late and had to do a mad dash to Care of Magical Creatures, found Harry, Ron and Hermione with Hagrid who seemed numb with shock by the verdict

"S'all my fault," he told the teens. "I kep' droppin' the notes yeh wrote for me, Hermione. An' then Lucius Malfoy stood up, said his bit, an' the Committee did exac'ly what he told em..."

"Seriously!?" Hope said hotly, startling the group.

"There's still the appeal!" Ron added fiercely "Don't give up, we're working on it!"

Hope, who had been fuming about the unfairness of it all, turned toward Malfoy with a withering glare. Though he wasn't paying attention to her in the slightest. He was currently engaged in a heated argument with Pansy Parkinson.

"You keep harping on about how I don't spend time with you. Then, when I try to find you during the Hogsmeade trip, I can't find you anywhere."

"I'm sorry, I was in the shops and I lost track of time!" Pansy simpered.

Hope rolled her eyes and grabbed her bags, wanting nothing more than to pummel that little asshole who had started this mess with Buckbeak in the first place. She watched from the corner of her eye as Malfoy separeted from Pansy to head to his two idiots in crime, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Have you noticed Malfoy and Parkinson aren't as tight as they used to be?" Lavender asked suddenly.

Hope blinked and nodded though she was barely paying attention to the relationship drama. Her eyes kept drifting to the hippogriff tied in Hagrid's pumpkin patch and she felt a twisting knot in her gut over his impending death.

When class was over, she walked with her friends though she kept her eyes trio who were waling with Hagrid back toward the castle. In front of them, she could see Malfoy with Crabbe and Goyle, snickering and looking back at them.

"S'no good," she heard Hagrid say "Malfoy's got the Committee in his back pocket... I'm just' gonna make sure the rest o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had. I owe him that..."

Hagrid then turned and hurried back to his cabin, brushing past the girls with his face buried in his handkerchief.

"That Malfoy... I swear..." Lavender hissed.

"Poor Hagrid..." Parvati said sadly.

"Look at him cry!"

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had been standing nearby, listening.

"And that pathetic oaf's supposed to be our teacher!" Malfoy cackled.

Hope's eyes narrowed and she strode forward, ready to punch Malfoy in the face for recreational purposes. She barely noticed Ron and Harry making their own way toward the boy. Parvati had gripped her arm.

"Hope, don't-oh!"

Hermione had strode forward past all of them, got to Malfoy first and-

**CRUNCH!**

Hermione's fist had connected hard with Malfoy's nose with every ounce of strength she could produce. Malfoy fell to the ground, nose bleeding. Parvati and Lavender froze in their tracks, gasping. Harry, Ron, Hope Crabbe and Goyle stood shocked. Hermione went to punch him again.

"Don't you call Hagrid pathetic, you lousy-!"

"Hermione!" Ron tried to stop her but she had pulled out her wand when Malfoy got to his feet, causing him to step back.

"Redecorate his face!" Hope called in glee. Lavender and Parvati had yet to find their voices. Crabbe and Goyle looked at a loss of what to do.

Malfoy stared at Hermione for a moment before turning away. "Come on," he said to his lackeys and they all disappeared into the school.

"Hermione!" Ron gasped, impressed.

"Wow..." Hope giggled with not a small amount of pride, "And I mean-wow!"

Hermione ignored the both of them and rounded on Harry. "You had just better beat him in Quidditch because I can't STAND it if Slytherin wins!"

"Okay... time for Charms!" Lavender said cheerily though she kept giving Hermione wary glances.

The group made their way to Professor Flitwick's classroom, only to find that Hermione had disappeared.

"You're late," the tiny professor said. "We're working on reviewing Cheering Charms. We've already divided into pairs.

Harry and Ron paired up, though glancing around for Hermione. Lavender and Parvati had paired as well which left Hope to pair with Neville.

"Hey, where were you on Saturday?" the boy asked after a few moments.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Well... you said that you were going to help me with my essay... then you never turned up."

Hope's stomach dropped and she winced, slapping her forehead. "Neville... I'm sorry... It was this thing with Snape and then there was this other thing with-"

"It's okay," Neville said quietly... I'm used to it..."

If that was supposed to make her feel better, it didn't. In fact, she felt worse. And while Neville ended up feeling a bit better do to the superb Cheering Charm she had cast on him, she still felt bad.

When lunch came, she noted that Hermione had still not come down though Harry had quickly vacated his spot at the table to follow Cho toward the exit. Though considering she had done the same with Fred not less than two minutes later, she couldn't say much. And though Fred had Transfiguration and Hope had Divination, in light of their recent reconciliation they were both happy to miss said classes.

* * *

Meanwhile in said Divination class Harry Ron Hermione (whom they found snoozing in the common room) had entered the Tower room. Harry noted with some disdain that Hope was not there. Her silly antics were usually what got him through the class. Another thing he noted were the crystal balls on each of the small tables.

"I thought we weren't starting those until next term," Ron muttered warily.

Harry wasn't bothered. As long as this meant they were done with palmistry and she'd stop bursting into tears whenever she glimpsed at his hand.

"Where's Hope?" Harry asked Parvati who rolled her eyes.

"Off somewhere snogging Fred when she should be here," the girl scoffed but quickly hushed when Professor Trelawney entered the classroom, dramatically as usual.

"Good day to you all," she said in her usual misty voice. "The fates have informed me that your June examination will concern the Orb, so I am introducing it earlier than I had planned as to give you sufficient practice."

"What a load of-" Hermione huffed, not bothering to keep her voice down. "Isn't she the one who sets the exam? Some prediction!"

Harry and Ron both bit their tongues laughing.

"Crystal gazing is a particularly fine art. I don't expect most of you to See when first you peer into the Orb's infinite depths. We shall start by practicing relaxing the conscious mind and the external eyes."

Ron began snickering.

"I should have pulled a Hope..." Hermione muttered in annoyance. "Granted, I wouldn't be snogging anyone but at least I could be doing something useful like practicing Cheering Charms."

Professor Trelawney has said some other things but Harry was hardly paying attention. However, she then told them to concentrate on their orbs (Harry inwardly rolled his eyes as Parvati and Lavender shivered in anticipation) and with luck they would 'See' by the end of the class.

"See anything yet?" Harry asked after twenty minutes.

"My time being wasted." Hermione huffed.

"Would anyone like me to help interpret the visions of the Orb?" Trelawney asked as she made her rounds about the stifling room.

Harry felt a sinking feeling when she made her way to their table and sure enough-

"Oh... my poor child!" she clutched at the numerous shawls about her neck "You have the Gr-"

"Oh, for the love of- Not that stupid Grim again!"

The teacher turned to Hermione and Lavender and Parvati both glared as Hermione as well.

"My dear girl," the woman began coldly "I have to say that in all my years of teaching I have never seen any student with such a mundane mind as yours."

The class held its breath, waiting for Hermione's response.

"FINE! I'M LEAVING!"

She popped from her chair, grabbed her book, shoved it into her bag and made her way to the trap door. "This is a waste of time anyway! I'll just do something _useful!"_

Once she was gone, the class all began talking at once while Harry and Ron just stared in shock.

"Professor!" Lavender cried suddenly, startling the group. "I've just remembered! You saw her leaving, didn't you! You said that _around Easter, one would leave us forever!_"

"Yes, my dear..." Professor Trelawney said and Parvati and Lavender gasped "I did in fact see Miss Granger leaving us. I hoped that I was mistaken. The Inner Eye can be a burden..."

Lavender and Parvati gasped again and moved closer to Professor Trelawney so she could join their table.

Later on that day, Harry saw Lavender and Parvati relaying to Hope during dinner what she had missed during Divination. However, the girl was far less impressed with Professor Trelawney's predictions than she was with Hermione's antics.

"Wow!" she cried. "I would have to skip when the class was getting interesting. Please tell me Hermione told her to fuck off!"

Lavender and Parvati both gave scandalized huffs and walked off, leaving an amused Hope to her business. Harry, on the other hand, wondered if the Professor had indeed seen a Grim. That was the last thing he needed before a match.

* * *

The Easter Holidays, (though no one could call them holidays with the amount of homework) finally rolled around and Hope couldn't have been happier. Padma had opted to stay for the Easter holidays but Hope wanted to return home. She missed her Aunt Bex and wanted to catch up on her Netflix. Parvati had felt the same way and had opted to join her. Her parents took a bit of convincing but they ended up buckling as long as Parvati promised not to leave Hope's home unless in an area full of people and with a stake on her at all times. However, that elation quickly turned to disappointment when Nik dropped a letter into her lap that morning during breakfast.

_Dearest Hope,_

_As much as I would love to have you home during the holiday, I was informed that you were given extra homework and your studies are important. I would prefer for you to stay at school during this break to complete your extra homework and NOT be distracted by whatever trashy show you plan on watching all week. No worries, I will make it up to you once you're home for the summer. _

"Oh, no..." Parvati whined when Hope passed her the letter. "That means we actually have to do our homework!

"You're not leaving? Lovely!"

Hope looked up to see Padma make her way to the Gryffindor table, oddly enough with Cedric in tow. He gave Hope a friendly smile while Padma beamed hopefully at her. Clearly they wanted something.

"Hey, guys... What's up?"

"Well, Hope..." Padma began "Cedric is currently taking Muggle Studies. And the sixth years have to write a huge report on a book written by a foreign muggle and-"

Hope stopped her by digging into her bag and handing the older boy her a copy of _Rose Madder_ by Stephen King. "I want that back by the end of term," she told him.

"Thanks a lot, Hope," the boy said genuinely. and the two then left for their respective house tables. Hope bit back a laugh when she saw Cedric's comically shocked face when he read the first page then engrossed himself in the novel, all thoughts of food forgotten.

"Oh, no!"

Hope and Parvati looked up to see Hermione appearing as if she were going to have a stroke. "Third year muggle studies have to bring in a vinyl record of muggle music."

"Hermione... you're parents are muggles... Just ask them!"

"Oh..." the bushy haired girl sagged in relief and then rushed from the table to head for the owlery. Hope noticed someone else leaving as well: Marcus Flint.

"Oh, hell!"

Padma then appeared from the Ravenclaw table and plopped back next to Hope, distracting her from the Hall entrance. "I also have Muggle Studies. I forgot all about the vinyl record we have to bring..."

Hope rolled her eyes and scribbled out a request for a vinyl record for her friend on her return letter to her aunt, along with a request for the extensive notes she had made Hope write on various runes. "You're lucky I like you," she huffed as she attached the letter to Nik's foot as he helped himself to Parvati's chips. He glanced at the note on his leg, gave Hope a hoot and an affectionate nip on the wrist before fluttering off.

"Don't be surprised if it's something from the twenties during prohibition. Aunt Bex has a thing for Jazz."

And while everyone was busy with homework (though not as much as Hermione) Ron had taken over responsibility for Buckbeak's appeal. He could always be seen pouring over various volumes on Hippogriffs. At times, Hope would help him after finishing her Runes homework (because it was honestly child's play for her at this point) and her Divination homework (Honestly, what was the point?) Apparently while she still had issues with Ron, she shoved them down to help out with Buckbeak's case. The bickering could be heard from their usual table in the common room.

"Did you read that wrong? Bet you read it wrong..."

"For the love of Merlin, how does Fred put up with you?!"

And Harry, when he wasn't tuning them out or working on his own work would have to find ways to fit Quidditch practice in every single day. The match between Gryffindor and Slytherin would take place on the first Saturday after the Easter holidays. Slytherin was leading in the tournament by two hundred points which meant that Gryffindor needed to win by more than two hundred to win the Cup. Which also meant a lot of the weight fell to Harry as capturing the snitch was worth one hundred and fifty points, as Oliver had been reminding him all vacation.

"You have t catch the Snitch when we're _more _than fifty points up," Wood told Harry "Only when we're more than fifty points up or we lose the Cup but win the match. Do you understand? Only when we're-"

"I KNOW, OLIVER!" Harry yelled, startling the whole common room one day.

All of Gryffindor House was obsessed with the match. Gryffindor hadn't won the Quidditch Cup since Ron's brother, Charlie Weasley, had been Seeker. However, while the tensions where high between Slytherin and Gryffindor, the tensions were even higher between Harry and Malfoy. Malfoy was still smarting from the mud throwing that accorded in Hogsmeade as well as the fact that Harry had avoided punishment. Harry, while still upset at Malfoy's attempts at sabotage during their match against Ravenclaw (As well as Parkinson's slander about his and Cho's relationship) it was the matter of Buckbeak that had him dead set on crushing Malfoy at the match.

When school resumed, it was with an even bigger air of tension. The animosity between the teams and their houses reached critical mass. Fights broke out in the halls. One incident resulted in leeches sprouting from a Slytherin's nose and a Gryffindor's behind.

And of course, while the rest of the team were the subject of various attacks from Slytherin, none had it as bad as Harry. Slytherins kept trying to trip or jinx him in the halls. However, it was for naught due to the fact that Wood had given instructions that Harry should be accompanied everywhere he went. The whole of Gryffindor House took up the challenge; though the most enthusiastic was Hope. As long as he lived he would never forget when she flew out of the shadows like a brunette blur and tackled Crabbe to the ground, wand point so close to his face it nearly went up his nose.

"I will punch you so hard you end up back in your mom's fallopian tubes! Do something!" she had yelled at the boy.

"Bloody hell, McGonagall!" Lee Jordan cried and yanked Hope off the boy and then proceeded to look innocent.

"Everyone, to CLASS!" the older woman shouted and the group dispersed, though the third year Gryffindors stayed close to Harry just in case the Slytherin's decided to try something.

* * *

"I'm still surprised you didn't get a detention..." Lavender said one day at breakfast.

"Lee saved me," Hope replied but was distracted by Parvati whose gaze was turned to the ceiling.

"Uhh..." Parvati pointed upwards.

Hope looked up and her brows rose to see Nik, along with six other owls, carrying a box that was clearly for clothes attached to strings. The other students looked up as well and Hope was surprised when Nik only dropped a letter that was in its beak but continued to make his way to the Ravenclaw table with the other owl, dropping the box in front of Padma.

"Oh, it must be the vinyl record she wanted," Parvati said.

"Tell your aunt that I love her!" Padma cheered from her table right before rushing out of the Hall.

"Okay..." Hope said with a raised brow before going back to her food.

* * *

When the night of the match came no one was able to study. Hermione had even set down her books. Hope was busily reading one of her trashy romance novels though it was obvious she couldn't concentrate. As for the team, Oliver Wood was crouched over a Quidditch model, muttering to himself. Fred and George dealt with the tension by making more of a ruckus than usual. The girls of his team were giggling at Fred and George's antics. Harry was sitting with his friends, away from the others and trying not to think of the match. Though sometimes he would lift his head and turn to Hope.

"Can you give me a reading on the match?"

"Newp," she would reply.

"Oh for goodness sake..." Hermione huffed. "We've already established that's just rubbish."

"Only when Professor Trelawney is doing it..." Hope countered then smirked nastily "Or you."

"And here we go..." Ron sighed as Hermione stiffened.

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused," Hope said sweetly.

"Guys, this is about Harry, remember?" Ron said and Harry honestly wished he hadn't done that. Watching Hope and Hermione go at each others' throats took his mind off the impending match and the pool of snakes writhing in his midsection. However the moment Oliver declared "TEAM, BED!" Harry felt much better.

* * *

"Fred! You're supposed to be in bed! We have a match in a few hours! Snog on your own time!"

"I wasn't snogging! I was-"

"I don't want to hear it! Bed!"

Hours later Harry awoke to the sound of Wood's outraged voice right outside his door, along with Fred's. Ron and the rest of his roommates woke up and snickered at the sound of scurrying feet and a door two floors up, the door to the fifth year boys dorms closing.

_Really? _Harry rolled his eyes and got out of bed to pour himself some water from the silver jug beneath the window. The grounds were quiet, the Whomping Willow was motionless and innocent-looking. The conditions for the match appeared to be perfect.

Harry set down his cup and was about to head back to bed when something caught his eyes. Something was prowling across the moonlight lawn

Quick as lightning he grabbed his glasses. Please, God, don't let it be a Grim. Not before the match...

And it turned out it wasn't a Grim. It was only Crookshanks.

Wait... No, it wasn't only Crookshanks.

It emerged. A giant shaggy dog trotted along side of the cat. Harry stared in confusion. What did this mean? How could it be an omen of death if the cat could see it? Hope could see it as well but she was also nearly killed when it appeared. What was going on?

"Ron!" Harry whispered. "Wake up!"

Ron was already fast asleep.

"Ron!"

"Huh?" Ron mumbled.

"Come here? Look at thi-" Harry looked back to the window and was crestfallen to see the lawn was empty of any dogs or cats.

A loud snore told him Ron was out like a light

* * *

That morning when Harry and the rest of the team entered the Great Hall, they were met with a thunderous applause. Harry beamed when he saw that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses were applauding them as well, decked in gold and scarlet (though why Cedric Diggory was holding a muggle paperback was beyond him). The Slytherins hissed loudly and Malfoy looked extremely pale.

"What is Hope wearing?!" Katie exclaimed in amusement.

Harry looked up and his eyes popped at the sight of Hope. She honestly looked like a Gryffindor themed harlequin. Her hair was pulled into two high pigtails with red and gold scrunchies and she wore a red long sleeved shirt with a gold tank top. Red jeans encased her legs as well as what looked to be gold ballet flats. Her left eyes had a gold star drawn over it and her right eye had a red heart over it. Her mouth was also painted with red lipstick.

Where she got gold and red pom poms? No one knew.

"Go! Go! Gryffindor!" She cheered and three fourths of the Hall joined in.

"GO! GO! GRYFFINDOR! GO! GO! GRYFFINDOR!"

A certain blond Hufflepuff cheered extra loud while looking at Fred. Her cheering was quelled by a death glare from Hope.

Harry glanced over to the Slytherin table again, smirking when he saw Pansy's sour look at Hope's attire. His smirk then widened when he saw Malfoy trying to get the girl's attention, probably for reassurance, but failing.

"Guess he ignored her too many times..." Hope snickered to him.

"I bet she's cheating on him..." Dean whispered conspiratorially.

"YES!" Hope cheered, high fiving the other boy only to then frown in confusion. "Wait... Ew, with what?"

"Where did you get that?" Harry asked through laughing, gesturing to her outfit. He'd never seen her wear it at the other matches.

She stopped her giggling long enough to answer. "Bought the jeans over the summer. Along with the vest and promised myself if we ever made it to the Cup finals, I'd wear it it."

Wood refused to eat though he prodded everyone else on the team to eat. But, before anyone had finished he had rushed the team off (right when Harry was about to bug Hope for a reading which she refused as he was ushered out) so they could take a look at the conditions of the field. Hope vaulted from the table to give Fred a good luck kiss. And it seemed Fred wasn't the only one due for lucky kisses that day.

"Good luck, Harry!" Cho said as she made her way to the exiting team, planting a huge kiss on his mouth as they left. Harry felt himself blushing as the Fred and George teased him with catcalls.

The team then made their way to the field, Wood pacing the terrain. He made note of how there was no wind and the ground was hard for a good kickoff. The sun was bright which could impair vision, which he noted to Harry mainly more than the others. However, once the doors opened and the rest of the team poured out, the captain ordered them to the locker rooms.

Once changed, they all walked back onto the field to a huge applause. Three quarters of the stands had red and gold banners, rosettes and flags. He was barely able to make out Hope's twin pigtails between Parvati's sleek black plait and Lavender's dirty blond ponytail. However, behind the Slytherin goal posts, he saw the at one fourth of the school was decked in green and silver, the Slytherin snake on their banners. Professor Snape sat in the front row, wearing green like the others.

"And here are the Gryffindors!" Lee Jordan yelled. "Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley and Wood! The best team Hogwarts seen in a few good years!"

* * *

Hope cheered at said declaration along with Lavender and Parvati while Padma clapped but rolled her eyes. The Slytherins' of course, booed. However, Hope's biggest source of amusement came from Cedric who seemed to be at the end of _Rose Madder _and steadily reading it.

"Cedric!" Padma scolded lightly. "Pay attention to the game!"

"They're just doing the announcements..." Cedric declared, not looking up from the book.

"And here come the Slytherins... Led by Captain Flint," Lee commented. Hope glanced over and rolled her eyes at Pansy's overenthusiastic jumping. "He's made some changes in lineup and seems to be going for size rather than skill-"

Three fourths of the stands broke into cackles while the Slytherins booed and hissed him.

Hope watched as Madam Hooch stood between Wood and Flint and ordered them to shake hands. Was it her imagination or were they trying to break each others' hands.

"Mount your brooms! Three... two... one.."

Her whistle sounded and the fourteen brooms rose into the air.

Hope clenched the rails as the Madam Hooch sent the Quaffle into the air and squealed when Alicia took hold of it.

"Alicia Spinnet of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, headed for the Slytherin goal!"

Hope gasped and squealed, clutching Lavender and Parvati's hands as they watched the match. Alicia had the Quaffle and-they all groaned when Warrington of Slytherin caught the Quaffle and headed to the Gryffindor goal posts and-three fourths of the stands cheered when George Weasley knocked Warrington in the stomach with a bludger and he dropped the Quaffle. Angelina caught it, swerved around Montague, ducked a bludger and...

"SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Hope hopped onto the rails to do a victory cabbage-patch right as Angelina soared around the field, the crowd cheering-

"OWW!"

"D'OH!"

Hope stopped dancing just in time to see Flint crash into her, nearly upending Angelina from her broom. Fred retaliated by chucking his beater's club to the back of Flint's head, causing his nose to crash into the handle of his broom. Madam Hooch called for a penalty for both teams. Alicia took the penalty and-

"YES! SHE SCORES! TWENTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Flint, who was bleeding heavily from the nose, flew forward to take the penalty. Hope could make out the sounds of the Slytherin cheers followed by their moans of disappointment when Wood saved the goal.

Gryffindor was in possession, then Slytherin, then Gryffindor and-

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?" Hope yelled.

Instead of grabbing the Quaffle, Montague, one of the Chasers of the Slytherin team, Katie's head, claiming he mistook her for the Quaffle. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and awarded Gryffindor another penalty which Katie scored.

"THIRTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR! TAKE THAT YOU CHEATING SON OF A-"

"Jordan! Commentate in an unbiased way or-" McGonagall yelled.

"I'm telling it like it is, Professor!" Lee protested.

Hope watched the match excitedly, her eyes fixed on Harry as he soared over the field, searching for the Snitch. He went tearing down toward the Slytherin side, Malfoy following him. A bludger almost hit Harry's head, and another grazed his elbow. The two Slytherin beaters were approaching Harry from either side.

CRASH!

Hope and the rest of the Gryffindor supporters cheered when Harry turned his broom upward and shot up, causing the two Slytherin beaters to crash into each other. The Gryffindor side cheered as Slytherin and Gryffindor then fought for the Quaffle. Flint took possession-was it her or could she make out Pansy's shrill squealing?- Flint flew to the Gryffindor posts and-

"SON OF A FUCK!" Lee growled and McGonagall tried to take the megaphone away from him.

"Sorry! It won't happen again!" Lee promised. "Thirty-ten, Gryffindor in the lead."

After several more minutes of dirty tactics, such as the Slytherin beater hitting Alicia and trying to claim he mistook for her a bludger. However George elbowed him in the face in retaliation. Penalties were awarded to both team but Wood saved the goal and Katie was the one who scored, bringing the score to forty-ten with Gryffindor in the lead.

It seemed Malfoy was tailing Harry in case he saw the Snitch. Meanwhile, Katie scored another goal for Gryffindor, putting them at fifty-ten. And in retaliation, instead of attacking Katie, the Slytherin beaters both knocked Wood in the stomach with Bludgers, nearly making him topple from his broom. Boos and moans of sympathy to emit from the Gryffindor supporters.

"PENALTY TO GRYFFINDOR!" Madam Hooch shrieked. "You do not attack a keeper unless the Quaffle is within the scoring area!"

Angelina scored and the Gryffindors crowd screamed itself hoarse! Seventy-ten with Gryffindor in the lead!

* * *

Harry scanned the field eagerly, eyes searching for the elusive winged gold ball. If he caught the snitch now then they would win the Cup! He felt the hundreds of eyes on him as he scanned the field, Malfoy behind him

There! He saw it! The Snitch was sparkling a couple dozen feet above him!

Harry turned his broom upward, arm stretched forward. The Cup was theirs-

-but he was slowing down...

Harry whipped his head around and his eyes widened furiously at the sight of Malfoy tugging on the back of his Firebolt, pulling it back.

"YOU SON OF A-"

Harry actually swung to hit Malfoy but couldn't reach. Malfoy panted with the effort of holding back the broom but he let go once satisfied. The Snitch had disappeared.

"PENALTY TO GRYFFINDOR!" Madam Hooch shrieked in rage as Malfoy smugly slid back onto his Nimbus Two-Thousand and One

"YOU CHEATING SCUM!" Lee roared. "YOU CHEATING SON OF BITCH!"

And it was truly remarkable that McGonagall didn't tell him off for swearing. From the looks of it she was having a bigger fit than Lee.

Alicia took the penalty but she was so mad that she missed by twenty feet. The Gryffindor crowd moaned while the Slytherins cheered, geeked by Malfoy's foul on Harry. And to make matters worse, Slytherin wound up in possession of the Quaffle and scored putting them at seventy-twenty.

Harry marked Malfoy, the two flying so close that their knees knocked each other.

"Get lost, Potter!"

"Shove it, Malfoy!"

Malfoy tried to turn but Harry blocked him. Angelina had taken possession of the Quaffle and was pelting toward the Slytherin goal post Each member of the Slytherin team save the keeper was hot on her heels!

Harry wheeled the Firebolt around and shot, like a missile, toward the Slytherins.

"ARGH!"

They scattered like the roaches they were and Angelina was in the clear.

"SHE SCORES! EIGHTY-TWENTY TO GRYFFINDOR!

Harry, satisfied at the outcome, zoomed back into the field. The frantic shrieking of the crowd drew his attention and he felt the world stop.

Malfoy was zooming toward the ground, hand outstretched.

The Snitch was fluttering a few feet above the grass.

_Bloody hell!_

Harry zoomed forward, pushing the Firebolt as fast as it would go. Soon, he was a few feet behind Malfoy but he was afraid it wouldn't be enough. And though he had no clue why he said what he did, he opened his mouth and the words came tumbling out.

"MALFOY! WHO IS PANSY SHUCKING AS HER SIDE CORN?!"

Malfoy faltered but regained himself but it was too little too late. Harry had flattened himself to his broom, urging it forward as fast it would go. He was at Malfoy's heels. He side by side. His arm was level with his and Harry knocked it out of the way and-

"YES!"

Harry pulled out of his dive, hand in the air and the stadium exploded. Harry soared above the crowd, the Snitch in his hands.

Wood crashed into him them, sobbing hard into his shoulder. Next were Fred and George, followed by Angelina, Katie and Alicia. The team, cheering hoarsely, sank to the ground in a many armed hug.

The stands emptied as wave after wave of Gryffindor supporters rushed onto the field. There were various thumps and impressions of bodies pressing in on him. Then, he was hoisted onto the shoulders of the crowd along with the rest of the team. Once in the light he saw Hagrid, plastered with rosettes and holding gold and red pom poms identical to Hope's.

"Yeh beat em, Harry! Wait till I tell Buckbeak!"

Percy had his arms around Penelope, spinning her around like a maniac. McGonagall was sobbing into the Professor Sprout's shoulder. Ron and Hermione managed to get to him, simply beaming. Cho cheered and blew kisses at him and, unembarrassed, he blew one back to her. And then he spotted Hope who was-

Was that Gangnam Style dance she was doing? Eh, who knew?

The crowd moved the team toward the stands where Dumbledore awaited with the Quidditch Cup.

The Cup was passed to Wood who then passed it to Harry. He hoisted it into the air and at that moment, all was right with the world.

**So, what does it say about me that I'm okay with fight scenes but suck at sport scenes? Lol. Okay, so I'm not to happy with this chapter but I wanted to at least give an update. I feel this copied the book too much but at least there's an update... I want to "hopefully" have this whole story finished before the season premiere of The Originals. Third year should be finished in one to two chapters if I'm lucky. Also, fourth year will be... yeah. Brace yourselves... **


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or The Originals. Both belong to their respective copyright owners.

**A/N: Okay, so, I just uploaded chapter 20 when I stared this. It was 10:43 P.M. Let's see how long it takes me to finish this. By the way, I am slowly, but surely redoing the earlier chapters of this story. I've already redone chapters one and two. Kindly let me know what you think. I'll also let you know what chapters received a rewrite with each update. Also, I've had a reviewer state that they find issues with the fact that it's rather Hope-centric. Not to sound rude but the title is **_**Hogwarts Hybrid**_**. The title alone along with the summary would tell that it's a Hope-centric story. Also, Harry will have more of a presence soon when things actually start getting crazy. Anywho. On with the story. **

There was nothing quite as euphoric as rich, warm blood sliding down your throat, Rebekah mused as she happily enjoyed a meal of A positive from the pretty blond's neck. The woman, whom Rebekah found at a pub, was hardly complaining. In fact the scent of her arousal was beginning to perfume the room. She pulled back and smirked at the human.

It _had_ been a while since she had been with another woman...

Using her vampire speed she quickly removed the girl's dress, leaving her in her bra and panties.

She was just about to remove said panties when a loud knock sounded on the door.

"Bloody hell..." she growled in annoyance. "Go away!" She called, sinking her fangs into the woman's thigh, greedily drinking as the girl writhed in pleasure.

"It's Minerva."

_It's like she has a bloody radar or something..._

Removing herself from her companion she went to open the door. Her first response was to roll her eyes at the witch's tartan dress that looked like a picnic table cloth. "For the love of god, I'm taking you shopping one of these days. When is your birthday?"

"October fourth. But, I came here to ask-"

"You'd think a Libra would have better taste..." Rebekah muttered.

Minerva huffed in indignation. "Are you quite finished?"

"I suppose so," she then gestured for the woman to enter.

"I suppose I should be thanking my lucky starts that you're clothed this time- Oh, for the love of Merlin!" she stopped when she saw the young muggle woman on the couch with puncture holes on her neck and thighs. She was stripped down to her knickers and brassiere.

"Hi!" The girl said happily, not bothered by her incident appearance.

Minerva whirled around and pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. "Why is it every time I come here I walk in on something... _lewd?_"

"Oh, calm down," Rebekah said to the witch before bending over so she was eye level with the muggle. She first bit into her own wrist and pressed the bleeding wound the girl's mouth to heal her. Once done Rebekah set about altering her memory. "Get dressed. I picked you up at a bar, we made out, nearly shagged but my cock blocking friend arrived and you skittered away embarrassed."

The woman blinked then looked at Minerva, mortified. "Oh God! I'm so sorry!" She yanked on her dress and grabbed her shoes, rushing out of the door Rebekah held open.

"You really do have the worst timing. You realize this right?" the vampire said simply once they were alone.

"At least I had the common sense to knock this time," Minerva huffed.

"All right. Out with it? What's going on, now? And is that a red and gold rosette on your shoulder?"

"Hmm. Oh, yes. There was a match today. Gryffindor finally won the Quidditch Inter-House Cup against Slytherin."

Though she tried to say it calmly, Rebekah could clearly see the witch was this close to doing a happy dance. She also remembered Hope had said something about Gryffindor not winning the Cup in ages. "Congratulations. And you're here to invite me to the victory party?"

"Oh, no. Though, I'm sure if I were to go into Gryffindor Tower right now it would be akin to walking into a monkey pin. No, the reason I'm here is to invite you to search the grounds again. The last attack took place after a Gryffindor Quidditch match. And though we have upped our security and its highly doubtful that Black would make another attempt like the last, I would prefer to be safe than sorry." She stopped, eyes softening slightly. "Though, if you would rather not. Especially after the last time, I would understand."

"Are you kidding? I've said before that I would help, especially after those things attacked me. I don't them within sniffing distance of my Hope. Luckily I'm already dressed this time. And I still have those robes from last time." She whooshed away and a second later she was dressed in the gold robes from last time. "Ready when you are."

Minerva took her hand even though Rebekah braced herself, apparation was still pretty awful. Looking around, she found that they were standing at the entrance of Hogsmeade where Professor Dumbledore stood to greet them, red and gold rosettes adorned his robes and a Gyrffindor flag was draped around his shoulders..

"Greetings, Ms. Mik- Rebekah."

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore."

The vampire and wizard shook hands. "I hope your trip was more pleasant than last time?"

"It's still a bit disorienting but it wasn't as bad."

"Small favors I supposed," he said with smile before sobering. "Minerva told me what the dementors did to you. I am terribly sorry that happened to you. Due to your heightened emotions they likely saw you as hearty meal."

"I figured it was something like that..." she replied, suppressing a shudder as they walked to the Hogwarts castle. She wasn't used to be the one on the menu.

"So, Minerva will be sticking close to you, as will Hagrid, to ensure that it does not happen again."

While Rebekah honestly found the idea of a guard perposterous, considering what that thing nearly did to her, she kept her mouth shut. It seemed the old wizard knew what she was thinking.

"I'm quite certain the idea of a guard is-er- a tad insulting for someone as formidable as you. Though, hopefully we will catch him and soon have the dementors removed from the perimeters of the school. Also, in the forest you could have no better guide than Hagrid."

"Oh, very well-" she stopped when her ears caught the sound of loud cheering as well as stamping.

"GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR!"

"Ah, yes" Dumbledore said beaming "The students must be parading the winning team throughout the castle. More than likely the victory party should be starting soon."

* * *

The victory party for the Gryffindor team was in full swing. After parading the team throughout the school, the crowd dispersed and the Gryffindors headed to their common room for a victory party. The Weird Sisters blared on the wireless radio and, as per usual, Fred and George disappeared for an hour only to return with various treats from Honeydukes.

The heroes of the hour, the Gryffindor Team, were having the time of their lives. Wood was currently flocked by various girls as he retold highlights of the match. Alicia, Katie and Angelina were clearly enjoying the attention from a group of sixth year boys. Fred and George were setting of a bunch of Fillibuster's Fireworks so the room looked as it were full of stars. Harry was currently sitting on the couch with Ron, Hermione and Hope, telling the tale of his race for the Snitch against Malfoy. When he told them of what he said, all of their mouths dropped.

"Wait! Wait! '_Side corn'?_" Hope was beside herself, nearly choking on her candy with laughter. "Where the Hell did you even come up with that?" She then paused. "You watch _Archer_, don't you?"

Harry gave a one shouldered shrug. "I caught a few episodes once when Dudley was watching it. He was too scared of me to kick me out."

"I love that show!" Parvati exclaimed for her spot on the arm of the couch. When Harry glanced at her in surprise, she shrugged. "I saw it when I spent the day with Hope. I didn't get a lot of the references but the insults were amazing."

"What is Krieger's girlfriend? Is she a ghost?" Lavender asked as she took a swig of pumpkin fizz.

"I told you before, she's computerized..." Hope sighed.

"I wonder if its true..." Ron said, getting the others attention.

"What?" the girls asked.

"That Parkinson's running around on him."

"With what? A doberman?" Hermione scoffed, earning startled laughs from the group. "I honestly hope she is, actually. It'd serve that git Malfoy right."

The group then laughed in agreement before Hermione brightened. "Let's go to dinner."

"With all the candy and stuff we've got here?" Hope asked incredulously. "Why?"

"To watch Slytherin sulk." Hermione said as if that explained everything. Which it did.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, grinned and got off the couch, the girls following. They quickly made their way to the Great Hall, Harry receiving congratulations from the portraits as well as the Fat Friar.

The Gryffindor table was rather deserted, save for two sixth year girls, a first year boy. Percy was there as well but at the Ravenclaw table. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs applauded when Harry entered and the boy couldn't help smirking when the Slytherins all scowled.

"Wonderful game, Harry!" Percy said pompously as he and his girlfriend rushed forward to congratulate him.

"Great game, Harry!" Cedric said, coming over to shake his hand as well as hand Hope a paperback. "And thanks for letting me borrow this. Do you have any others by this man that I could borrow, perhaps? He's really good. After OWLs of course," he added.

As everyone sat down at their respective tables, Harry glanced around for the Slytherin team. The two Beaters Derrick and Bole looked as if they wanted nothing more than to jinx Harry on the spot. The two Chasers, Warrington and Montague were sulking into their dinner though Flint was nowhere to be found.

"Harry... Harry!" Hope was repeatedly swatting his arm. "Look!"

Looking to where she was pointing, Harry turned to the Great Hall entrance to see Malfoy and Parkinson in a heated argument.

"And you let what he said cost you the match!? Did you believe him or something?!"

"What? No! It just-"

"Urgh!" Pansy then turned on one foot and stormed out of the hall, too pissed to even pick at Hope and the other girls.

Malfoy watched her leave before storming out himself, swearing loudly which prompted Professor Sprout to take five points from Slytherin.

"Excellent!" Ron cheered while the girls all broke into delighted giggles.

"I think you started some shit..." Hope said, eyes wide with shock and glee as she watched the scene.

"Wow..." Harry laughed as he scooped up some treacle tart just as Cho squeezed herself next to him, sliding her arm around his waist. Best Day Ever. He was so ecstatic he didn't even notice the absence of his Head of House or the game keeper.

* * *

Rebekah stood outside of a small wood cabin as Minerva politely knocked at the door. The door to the hut opened and the giant man who had been Rebekah's guide last time opened the door, also plastered in red and gold rosettes. When he saw her he visibly straightened and attempted to smooth out his hair.

"Professor McGonagall. Rebekah... What can I do for yeh?"

Rebekah tried not shake her head as he ogled her. "Hello, Hagrid."

Minerva let out an exasperated sigh. "We're conducting a search of the grounds, as well as the forest while the students or celebrating-"

"-or sulkin' if yer Slytherin..." the man said with a slight smirk.

Even Minerva's lips quirked at that. "Yes, well, if you would be so kind as to accompany us again?"

"Be delighted ter." He said, going inside for a moment and returning with a large crossbow. He then held his large arm out for her and Rebekah bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from laughing.

"Once the students head to bed she will join us in a search of the castle," Minerva informed them with exasperation as she watched the giant man's sub par attempts at flirting.

"Oh, an' before yeh go, I wanted yeh to met Beaky."

"Who?" Rebekah asked in confusion then remembered Hope's letters. "Oh, your hippogriff?"

"We really haven't got time for this," Minerva said impatiently.

"Oh, come now, Professor. Let er at least see em'. I'd like him ter meet a vampire before... yeh know..."

Sometimes having heightened emotions was a pain for Rebekah, especially right now. The burst of sympathy she felt for the giant had her thoroughly exasperated with herself. Raising such an animal lover like Hope really had made her soft.

"One minute, then..."

Hagrid beamed and lead her around to a garden that had the biggest pumpkins she had ever seen. There in the center, a rope around his neck keeping him tethered to a post, was the hippogriff. His gold eyes lifted and narrowed at Rebekah.

"This-" Hagrid said, gesturing to the magnificent animal "is Buckbeak. Beaky, this is Rebekah."

Rebekah, feeling slightly silly, dropped to a low curtsy that she hadn't used in centuries. The hippogriff eyed her shrewdly but soon dipped into a bow.

"Ah, that went well. Yeh can pet em if yeh want."

She happily went to the animal and gently stroked his head. She had a feeling this thing sensed what she was which was why it eyed her cautiously. She then remembered what Hope and the others told her over Christmas about hippogriffs being proud creatures.

"You're so pretty..." she told him as she stroked him behind the ears.

Was it her or did Buckbeak seem to lighten up at the complement?

* * *

After several hours night began to fall and the search of the forest proved fruitless, Minerva declared it was best if Rebekah returned home. Hagrid expressed regret at this but agreed. They began their trek back when a voice stopped them.

"Hagrid."

The was voice deep and uncompromising. Both he, Minerva and Rebekah whirled around and the vampire's eyes widened to see one of the centaurs so close. He had long red hair and a red beard, his torso muscular and where his human waist ended his chestnut horse half began. She found him fascinating though the arrow aimed at her heart and his fierce glare made her roll her eyes. Wonderful.

"Whoa, now, Ronan!" Hagrid exclaimed, one hand up in defense while the other was in front of Rebekah protectively, which was sweet but unnecessary. "What's with the arrows?"

"You dare bring that vile thing into our forest?" the half-man said, voice laced with wrath.

Rebekah's brows hit her hairline and she let out an insulted scoff. "No manners what so ever," she admonished, hardly bothered by the arrows. She felt an elbow to the ribs from Minerva, apparently warning her to watch her mouth.

"We were just leaving," Minerva said stiffly, hand clutching her wand.

"She's helpin' Dumbledore is all," Hagrid said tersely, to the centaur. "Searchin' for a criminal, Sirius Black. Have yeh seen em by chance?"

The centaur turned his narrowed gaze from Rebekah-who was smiling at him benignly just to be an asshole-to Hagrid. He then looked up at the darkening sky. "Chamaeleon is bright tonight..."

Minerva pursed her lips, Hagrid sighed and Rebekah lost her smile to look up at the sky. With her advanced vision she was able to easily make out the stars, though she had no clue what he was talking about.

"Right... we'll be off then..." Hagrid said impatiently. The three then left the centaur and went to make their way out of the forest.

"Ruddy nags..." Hargid huffed then sent an apologetic look to Rebekah. "They're... er... not the biggest fans of vampires, centaurs... Sumthin about yer bein an 'abomination' or sumthin silly like that-"

Rebekah let out an incredulous snort at that. "He's _literally_ a horse's ass and I'm the abomination? Okay."

"Keep your voice down!" Minerva hissed at her. "Don't insu-"

"Oh, what can they even do to me?" Rebekah scoffed.

The answer came in the form of an arrow shooting her straight in the back and through the heart.

Rebekah let out a strangled gasp and collapsed to the ground, her body desiccating at her companions feet.

* * *

There was chatter around her, and what sounded like sobbing. The awful pain of her veins grinding together soon disappeared and the rush of blood pumping had her fighting to open her eyes. She felt her skin returning back to normal and when she finally opened her eyes she found herself in a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits and- she blinked and sat up straight- were they snoring? And what the sort of bird _was_ that that was sitting on a perch? Was that a- No, it couldn't be...

"Ah, Rebekah! Good to see you've returned to the land of the living. You were out for well over four hours. Oh, I see you've noticed Fawkes."

She turned her head to see Dumbledore smiling down at her. He offered her a blood pop much like a doctor would a small child after a painful shot. "I'm terribly sorry that you were assaulted again... Centaurs are not particularly fond of vampires and they are extremely proud creatures. Not unlike hippogriffs. If you like, I can have a goblet of blood, animal of course, brought up."

"That's all right... I have blood at home..."

To her left was Minerva who was quite pale but looked relieved. "You just _had_ to mouth off to a centaur, didn't you?" she said shrilly, not helping Rebekah's state one bit.

"Where the bloody hell am I?" the vampire asked groggily.

"My office," Dumbledore informed her "Professor McGonagall and Hagrid brought you here aft-"

He was caught off by said giant professor latching onto her and sobbing heavily into her shoulder. Rebekah tried not to cringe at the huge teardrops sliding down her back and patted his huge shoulder awkwardly.

"I thought those ruddy nags killed yeh! Th-then McGonagall said it wouldn' kill yeh, not an arrow..." He then pulled away from her and looked at her in astonishment, face still wet with tears "Yer _that_ Rebekah. An Original..."

Rebekah tensed and she noticed that some of the portraits awoke at that. She noticed one, a man with a pointed beard clad in magnificent robes of green and silver, eyeing her shrewdly.

"Rebekah Mikaelson... I would have never thought I would see you again..."

All eyes turned to the portrait and the witch and wizards then turned to Rebekah who looked thoroughly confused.

"We know each other?" she asked, feeling silly for talking to a portrait.

"Oh, yes... We do know each other... Very well... in the _biblical_ sense."

Minerva sputtered and Hagrid coughed. Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose and looked quite exasperated and embarrassed. "That'll do Phineas..."

Rebekah's brows rose at the portrait's bold claim. "Excuse me? When the bloody hell was this?!"

"July, eighteen eighty-eight. Dublin... It was the end of term and I was celebrating with a bit of Muggle-rousing which you found quite amusing..."

Rebekah racked her brain but couldn't recall. She shook her head and Phineas' eyes popped in insult.

"You insufferable mosquito, you said it was the best night of your life!"

"And you believed me?" Rebekah scoffed, irritated. Now a few of the other portraits snickered while Phineas went "Hmph!" and disappeared from his portrait.

"Well, you must tired after such an eventful day!" Dumbledore said heartily. He stood and shook her hand. "Thank you very much fr assisting us again, Rebekah." He gave her another box of Honeydukes sweets, this time some chocolate frogs. "Minerva, let's kindly escort Rebekah back to Hogsmeade where you can take her home."

"Of course. Come, Rebekah. The students are in bed... Well, the Gryffindor's may still be celebrating..."

"Bye, Hagrid," Rebekah waved who was still looking awestruck.

"Bye, Rebekah. Feel free ter visit my cabin sometime for a cup of tea."

She smiled while Minerva barely concealed her head shake and she and the headmaster lead the vampire from the strange office to the doors. During the walk, Rebekah could barely pay attention to where she was walking as she kept getting distracted by what she was seeing. While it was hardly her first time in a luxurious castle, the various chattering portraits and moving staircases kept grabbing her attention. And when they finally got to the front doors which were guarded by actual trolls-were they really comparing the size of their clubs?- Dumbledore and Minerva had command them to let them past.

The three walked all the way from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade. Both witch and wizard had summoned their patronuses which significantly warmed their area. And now that Rebekah was able, she watched the silvery creatures curiously. It seemed that the familiars took on different animal shapes. Minerva's took on the form of a cat while Dumbledore's resembled the strange bird she had seen in his office. Though, beyond the patronuses, Rebekah's keen eyes noticed a few baleful robed figures floating in the air a few meters away and she fought hard not to shiver.

Soon, they reached Hogsmeade and Rebekah swallowed when she saw the creatures brazenly swooping up and down the streets.

"Here is where we must part," Dumbledore said pleasantly though he kept his eye on the dementors. "Thank you again for your help and I hope you have a wonderful night."

"You too."

Minerva took her hand, then there was that awful pulling feeling and soon she was safely back in her kitchen.

"First a dementor nearly rips out my soul, then a centaur shoots me... At least my life isn't boring..." Rebekah quickly pulled down the bottle of chocolate wine and two glasses.

"None for me, thank you. I must head back. If anything my House students are still celebrating and need to be sent to bed."

"You're walking back to Hogsmeade alone?!" Rebekah asked, horrified at the idea of her friend alone at night in Hogsmeade with those things out there.

"Dumbledore is still waiting for me. And I'm quite capable on my own," Minerva said though she was touched at the vampire's concern. "Have a good night." The woman then whirled and disappeared on the spot.

Once alone, Rebekah took her wine into the living room and turned on the television, trying to ignore the slight chill that ran up her spine and the feel that someone was watching her..

* * *

That Monday morning, Harry's euphoria at winning the Quidditch House Cup was so great that even Potions with Snape couldn't get him down. While Snape was busy being petty by taking points from Harry whenever he could, Harry didn't mind. Not when the frostiness coming from Malfoy was practically palpable. Interestingly enough Parkinson had moved from usual spot next to Malfoy and opted to sit with Greengrass and Blustrode. Malfoy huffed and tried to act as if this did not bother him but every now and again his gray eyes could be seen shifting to where the girl sat.

Hope, highly amused by this, took to dancing in her seat each time Snape's back was turned, earning muffled snickers from the Gryffindors. And once class was over and everyone was pouring into the halls, she lamented loudly as Parkinson passed by that she wanted nothing more than to snuggle with her boyfriend.

"It must be nice having a boyfriend who trusts you, isn't it?" Parvati cracked loudly.

"Oh, get out of Mitchell's ass, Parvati!" Pansy hissed but otherwise said nothing else as she stormed off.

And as the weeks continued, it seemed that Malfoy and Parkinson had reconciled but at the same time they were still a bit cool toward each other. Though this cultivated more than enough speculative gossip to keep the Gryffindors entertained. It really seemed that Harry's comment on the Quidditch field had indeed, as Hope so eloquently put it, started some shit.

It was honestly the most amused Hope had been in a long while, made happier by the fact that it was now the first of May, the night before her birthday. Adding to the fact that when she got her essay back from Professor Lupin that Friday she received top marks and Professor Babbling awarded her twenty points for naming certain historical sights were runes were prominent. All in all, a perfect way to end her birthday's eve.

* * *

"Hope! Get up!"

THWACK!

Hope's peaceful slumber was shattered as, once again, her back and butt were attacked by a pillow wielding assailant. Inwardly, Hope groaned. Was waking her up by hitting her with pillows the new thing? "What?!" she groused.

"Do you know what today is?" Parvati's voice said impatiently.

At that, Hope's eyes then popped open and she sat up. Holy crap. Today was May second! She was officially fourteen!

"Happy birthday!" Parvati and Lavender cried simultaneously.

Lavender shoved a brightly wrapped box into her hands, smiling expectantly. Hope unwrapped the present and was happily surprised with the assortment of fruity smelling body washes and lotions by a line called Fairy Flourish, which was like the Bath and Body Works of the Wizard World. Parvati had gotten her an assortment of bracelets with her astrological symbol etched into them, along with the ruling planets. Hermione had gotten her a dessert cookbook.

"You guys..." Hope gushed, touched and tackle-hugging them all. "I'm gonna cry!"

"You will after this..." Parvati said mischievously before grabbing her wand. "Birthday shocks!"

"What?" Hope asked in confusion then shrieked when Parvati touched the wand to Hope's calf delivering a small shock. "Hey! What the hell?!"

"One for each year!" Lavender cheered, grabbing her own wand.

"What happened to birthday swats?" Hermione asked.

"Nonsense, this is more fun!" Parvati said as she chased Hope around the dorm.

"Oh, you're going to GET IT when your birthdays come up!" Hope cried, yelping as a spark caught her on the butt.

-T-

At breakfast Padma had rushed over to give her a small bag that consisted of hair accessories that actually glittered along with fourteen birthday zaps that had her running all over the Great Hall until Professor McGonagall had made them both sit after taking five points from both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, claiming birthdays were no reason to act like a bunch of trolls.

After sitting and grumbling, Hope was hardly surprised when she saw Nik flying in to the Hall. But like last time with the help of five other owls, he had a package that consisted of two rectangular boxes tied together. It was promptly dropped in Hope's lap and the owls fluttered to help themselves to the girls' momentarily abandoned breakfasts.

Attached to the box was a card and she instantly recognized her Aunt's handwriting, wishing her a happy birthday. Hope opened the top box and was greeted with pink paper tissue. She felt the girls crowd around her as she pulled out the lovely black jeans with blue jeweled accents along the pockets and ankles.

"Oh, those will go lovely with the shirt my parents bought you!" Parvati exclaimed.

And like last time, beneath the clothes was a set of books. Wow, her mom knew her well. The entire _Dark Tower_ set from Stephen King.

There was a smaller box inside and her brows arched. From her various shopping trips with Aunt Bex, she knew that blue box and white ribbon well.

"Wait, is that from Tiffany's?" Hermione asked incredulously and quite a few muggle raised heads lifted at that.

"Oh, that's a really high end muggle store, right?" Padma asked and Hermione nodded.

"_Very_ high end."

Hope was barely listening as she read the card and felt a sugary sensation rise in her chest.

_Happy Birthday, Littlest Wolf._

_Love, Dad._

She quickly tucked the card away, though she noticed Parvati had seen it. She then opened the box and Hope's mouth dropped open at the sight of the gold and emerald birthstone Tiffany style necklace.

"That is gorgeous!" Lavender exclaimed. "You should take it and your other things upstairs so they won't get messy."

Hope found that to be a grand idea and she made her way toward the hall exit.

As she headed to Gryffindor Tower, she stopped when she heard the familiar sound of Percy telling off someone and was hardly surprised to see it was Fred and George. Something about pranking Filch with dungbombs. She made her way to the group, eager for birthday smoochies from Fred as long as his anal brother didn't shove him in detention.

"What'd you guys do now?" Hope asked to get their attention.

"Oh, hello, Hope" Percy said stiffly. "Happy birthday to you. Be sure to head straight to class once you put away your presents."

"Dude, it's Saturday..." Hope said with an eye roll.

"Oh, well, then off to the common room unless you're headed to the Hogsmeade trip."

"Yes, Mom." Jezz, he needed to lighten up.

Percy turned back to telling off his brothers but Fred had paled, ignoring his brother and turning to his girlfriend. "Wait... It's your birthday?"

Hope's brows rose in indignation. _He forgot my birthday!? We've been dating since Halloween! What the fuck!_

George let out a wince of sympathy. "Fred, you're buggering up something awful..."

"You forgot my birthday?" she asked, voice dangerously calm.

Percy sighed audibly at his brother's foolishness. "Seriously, Fred..."

"Shut up, Percy..." Fred growled.

"At least Percy remembered my birthday," Hope hissed, nearly beginning to see red. She had skipped class for _his_ birthday!

"And... that's my cue... Oh, look. There's Lee." George then promptly took off down the hall. "Happy birthday, Hope!" he called.

"George! No running in the halls!" Percy then took off after him as well, leaving the couple alone.

"Hope-"

"I can't believe you!"

Hope was so upset she didn't notice the group watching a few feet away.

"I remembered your birthday! I remember skipping class to be with you on your birthday!" Hope growled.

"Hope, calm down-"

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!"

"What's going on?" a voice interrupted. It was Ginny.

"Ginny, just go to breakfast-" Fred started but was cut off by Hope.

"Your brother's an ass!"

Ginny didn't even bat an eyelash and turned to Fred. "What'd you do?"

"He forgot my birthday!"

Ginny's mouth dropped and she shook her head. "Wonderful job, Fred." She then turned to head to the Hall. "Erm... happy birthday, Hope..." she called before disappearing from sight .

Hope then whirled on her foot and stomped back to the common room. Once there, she sat her packages on the floor next to the chair she flopped into, seething. Her birthday! He forgot her birthday! Of all the douche-baggy...

"Hey, Hope."

"What?" Hope snapped.

Harry's brows rose at her acidic tone. "I _was_ just going to wish you a happy birthday but you don't seem happy."

Hope deflated and offered Harry an apologetic smile. "Sorry... and thanks. It's Fred. He forgot my birthday! Even Percy remembered my birthday and he doesn't even like me!"

Harry visibly winced. He remembered the one time Uncle Vernon forgot Aunt Petunia's birthday. It was awful. From his limited knowledge of girls, he knew that forgetting their birthdays if you were dating or married to them was the worst thing to do. Good thing he made certain to ask Cho's birthday. He had June thirtieth embedded in his brain.

"Wow... er... sorry."

She offered a one shouldered shrug. "Eh, it's not like _you _forgot my birthday."

They were quiet for a while before Harry asked. "Are you going to Hogsmeade today? There's a trip."

Hope thought about it for a moment then shook her head. "Nope. I'm too ticked to go. I'm just going to stay here and read my new books." She then showed him one of her Stephen King novels. Just then a couple of first year girls approached them after entering through the portrait hole.

"Excuse me. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil told us to ask if you were coming down to go to Hogsmeade? People are lining up to leave."

"Nope," Hope told them, flipping open her book. "I'm going to be in book land."

The girls glanced at each other but dutifully left to relay the message.

"What did you get for your birthday?" Harry asked.

She held up her wrist to show him the bracelets Parvati got her as well as the jeans and books and the expensive necklace. "And Lavender gave me some bath stuff from a line called Fairy Flourish and Hermione got me a cookbook of all sort of foreign desserts. I'm cooking everyday once I'm home."

"Neat." He then dug into robes and pulled out three galleons, handing them to her. "When you head to Hogsmeade next time buy yourself something nice."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "Harry..."

"I said I owed you for trying to help me," the boy said and Hope just stared blankly at him. "I would've bought you a present at Hogsmeade but since I can't go..." he trailed off.

"But-"

"No buts!" he told her. "Its not for you, but me. I already said I don't fancy any Exorcist type madness happening. I have enough problems."

Hope stopped arguing and pocketed the money. She then launched herself at him, squeezing him tightly.

"Gah, Hope! Gerroff! You're cutting off my circulation!"

"I'm so getting you something for your birthday! When is it?"

"July thirty-first, now let go!"

She didn't make it any better by actually lifting him from his feet before finally putting him down. He huffed at her but then smiled, glad she wasn't fuming anymore. He then glanced at her presents and noticed something.

"Hey, you know you have another box, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah..." She untied the first box from the second and opened it to find a home baked Louisiana Crunch cake, her favorite, with 'Happy 14th Hope!' in blue icing. "Sweet!" She then turned to Harry with a wide smile. "Cake?"

"What kind?"

"Louisiana Crunch."

"Never had it..."

"Blasphemer!"

"Please forgive me, Sister Mary Hope..." Harry then let out an exaggerated shudder as he helped himself to some cake. "That just sounds wrong..."

"Shaddup!" Hope giggled. "I'm going to put my stuff away. Don't eat all my cake." She then gathered her other box and headed to the girl's dorms.

Once inside she took a moment to fully appreciate her gifts. The jeans would look lovely on her with the gift Parvati's parents had gotten her, like Parvati had said. She placed it in her suitcase though she did switch out her regular scrunchie for one of Padma's sparkling ones. And unable to resist she pulled on the lovely necklace her father had gotten her. She was about to toss the box when an envelope fell out. Picking it up, she recognized her Uncle Elijah's handwriting. Figuring it to be more cash she placed it in her case as well and rushed back downstairs for cake.

* * *

The day passed easily enough. After gorging on cake, Hope had made herself comfortable in the chair to dive into her new book series. Taking pity on Harry, she loaned him her Sandman comics to read during the day while his friends were at Hogsmeade. Neither one of them put their respective books down until their rumbling stomachs signaled it was time for lunch.

Lunch was particularly enjoyable due to the absence of most of the Slytherins. After finishing their meals, they left the Great Hall to roam the castle. It was simple enough at first until Hope gave him a knowing smirk.

"So... that incident I walked in on that day with Cho..." she said slyly.

"Shut up..." Harry felt his cheeks burning.

"Neck action?" Hope continued, elbowing him lightly.

"I said shut up!" He was sure his face was as red as a stop sign. Was it his imagination or did he hear laughing? He looked behind him and huffed. Great, even the Fat Friar was laughing at him.

Hope snickered and opened her mouth to continue but a snide voice cut her off.

"So, _that's_ why you decided not to go to Hogsmeade this time? Snuggling up with Potter?"

Both Gryffindors turned around to see Pansy Parkinson sporting the widest grin imaginable.

"You've got some nerve, Potter. Running around on Chang. At least she's pretty."

"For your information no one's running around on anyone. And what do you even know about pretty, Parkinson?" Harry sighed.

"Mostly that you and Chang, who is far above you by the way, hardly make any sense. It does make sense that you'd try to slum it with Mitchell here."

"And yet your boyfriend keeps checking out everything that isn't you..." Hope said calmly. "Though I can't blame him."

"I can see why you went for Potter, Mitchell. Got sick of not receiving nice things, or even birthday wishes from your own boyfriend, did you? You'd think Weasley would at least say happy birthday considering he's too poor to even buy you a quill."

Both Harry and Hope bristled at that and Hope took a step forward. "Watch it, bitch!"

Pansy smirked and her beady eyes fell to Hope's neck. "Oh, wow! You move fast, Potter!" She was gazing at the emerald necklace around Hope's neck. "But a Gryffin-bitch like you has no reason to wear _green_."

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Pansy reached out, grasped Hope's necklace and-

Yanked it clean off, causing the chain to break in the middle.

Pansy tossed the necklace behind her where it landed with an audible clang.

Harry's mouth dropped and his belly filled with wrath. Grabbing his wand, he pointed it at Parkinson only to find that was useless.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

Hope shoved the girl into a wall, pummeling her with her fists and nails. Pansy screeched and reached up in a futile attempt to pull at Hope's hair or clothes. Whether or not Hope felt the blows was debatable. Her hands gripped Pansy's head and roughly shoved her to the floor by it. To Harry's horror, she then proceed to try and shove a suit of armor onto the Slytherin.

"Hope, stop!" He grabbed her around the waist and tried to pull her back.

"GET OFF ME!" she shrieked and elbowed him hard in the shoulder. He let her go on reflex and she charged for Pansy. Harry reached for his wand.

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_

Unfortunately Hope had rolled with Pansy, causing the jinx to miss her. She straddled the girl, intent on pummeling her. Pansy had taken out her wand to jinx Hope but it was knocked clean out of the way.

Harry looked up to see Lupin rush forward and drew his wand, pointing it at Hope "Impedimenta!"

Hope was frozen, if only for a few moments before she went to take off after Pansy who had escaped once the Gryffindor girl was frozen.

"I'M GOING TO KI-"

"Hope!" Lupin actually grabbed Hope by the shoulders and forced her to look at him. "Look at me, Hope! _Breathe!_"

Harry watched in astonishment as Hope's eyes met Lupin's and she took a slow breath through her lips.

"That's it. Calm _down. _Deep breaths."

She took a few more breaths and soon her face lost some of its redness and she pulled away from the DADA professor.

"Harry, head back to Gryffindor Tower, I need to have a word with Hope."

"Parkinson started it!" Harry proclaimed, rubbing his abused shoulder absently. "She yanked off her necklace that she'd just gotten for her birthday and-"

"Now, Harry."

Harry turned to leave but not before picking up the broken necklace and handing it to Hope. She took and left with the professor and Harry made his way back to the tower, idly rubbing his aching arm.

T.T.T

Hope sat in Lupin's office, shaking with rage as she waited for him to enter his office. After Harry had left the professor had lead her to his office where she was to wait as he spoke with someone outside. She swallowed as she looked at her broken necklace. Was she about to be expelled?

Moments later the man entered his office and fixed her with a hard glare.

"First of all, you should know that you are very lucky I'm not recommending your expulsion! What even prompted such a horrid display?"

Hope had a hard time even forming words. "She broke my necklace! On purpose just because its emerald! My father just gave it to me this morning!"

Lupin sighed and his face softened a bit. "Let me see it."

"Huh?"

"The necklace. Let me see it."

Confused, Hope handed him the necklace, wondering what he could possibly do. The man then placed the necklace on his desk and took out his wand, tapped it and to her surprise the necklace mended itself.

Hope felt the lightness of joy and her eyes widened. "Wha- How?"

"Jewelry without magical properties can easily be mended by magic." He handed her the necklace. "Good as new."

"I..." she faltered as she put the necklace back on. "Thank you..."

"Don't thank me. I'm still taking twenty points from both you and Pansy. Luckily for you the Fat Friar vouched for you. He said he saw you walking with Harry when Pansy, unprovoked, yanked your necklace from your throat."

"Right..." Considering Harry won them so many points in the match, twenty points would hardly be missed, especially if twenty were taken from Slytherin as well. "And I'm really sorry, Professor... It's just been..." She sighed "Not the greatest birthday... And Pansy's just so... urgh!"

Lupin looked a mix between sympathetic as well as amused. "Be that as it may, I'm also going to assign you a detention. As well as Pansy, however you will be serving separate detentions." He pulled out a form. "You'll be serving with Professor Sprout tomorrow."

Hope deflated like a balloon at that news. Professor Sprout always made her deal with the dragon poop! "Can I ask who Parkinson's serving with?"

Now Lupin truly did smile. "She will be serving with Professor McGonagall."

T.T.T.T

_Wow, that girl's hits hurt._

Harry was seated in his favorite chair by the fire, still rubbing his arm when Hope finally returned. Her eyes widened when she saw him and her cheeks reddened with embarrassment and shame.

"Harry... I'm really sorry about-"

"Don't worry about it."

"Let me see," she demanded.

"Hope, it's fine-"

But she had yanked his robe out of the way to look at his forearm. It was bruising rather badly. He winced and Hope gasped. "Oh, god! I am _so_ sorry!"

Considering he suffered worse on the Quidditch field, he wasn't really that upset about it. He was about to tell her so but saw she had grown quiet, seemingly debating with herself about something.

"Harry..."

"Yeah?"

She lifted her arm slightly, only to put it back down. "You should... head to Madam Pomfrey for that. Or at least get some ice."

"It'll be fine..." He then sat down and Hope followed though she eyed him shrewdly. "Are you in trouble?"

"Ehh, nothing I haven't dealt with before. Twenty points from Gryffindor and detention with Professor Sprout, putting dragon poop into the fertilizer barrels... without magic," she grumbled.

Harry bit back a snicker. It could have been way worse. Then he remembered. "What about her? She's the one who grabbed your necklace."

"Twenty points from Slytherin and she has detention with Professor McGonagall."

Now Harry grinned. "Serves her right!"

As they both snickered, imagining how Pansy would fair detention with Professor McGonagall, the portrait hole opened as students returned from Hogsmeade.

Hermione and Ron had brought back lots of sweets from Honeydukes, as did Lavender and Parvati for Hope. However they were both too full from cake and lunch to even bother with candy at the moment.

"Thanks guys... I'll just put these away..." Hope said and scooped her treats up. "Then I'm headed to bed... it's been that kind of day..."

Harry wholeheartedly agreed and went to do the same. Once he had changed into his pajamas and hit the sheets, he was out like a light.

* * *

The next morning, he got up and got ready, stomach growling and found he was craving some more of that delicious cake. Maybe he would ask Hope if there was any left. Probably not since she likely shared the rest with her dorm mates.

As it was a Sunday all he really wanted to do was eat, and then go back to sleep. Considering Quidditch was over he had more free time as it wasn't crammed with practices.

He glanced at the clock and saw that it was well past ten o'clock, meaning breakfast was over.

"Hey, Harry." It was Neville.

"Hey, Neville." He reached for the pile of sweets his friend had gotten him. "Chocolate frog?" he asked.

"Thanks," the round-faced boy said happily. The two ate in silence and judging by the way that Neville was fidgeting he wanted to ask Harry something.

"You can have more if you want," Harry said.

"Oh, no. Thanks... erm... Harry... Well, d'you know what they were saying about you at breakfast?" Neville asked nervously.

"What now?" Harry sighed as he opened another chocolate frog.

"That... that you and Hope were snogging yesterday and that's why she didn't go to Hogsmeade."

There was a feeling like a weight dropping into his stomach, then exasperation. "Oh for the love of-!" Harry rolled his eyes. "Let me guess? Parkinson?"

"Yeah..."

"Figured as much." With that he got up and left the dorms to head back down to the common room.

At once a few heads turned to him and a few snickers could be heard. It was a few first years who didn't know any better so he wasn't fussed. He also spotted Hope who was sitting at a table, reading Lavender's cards though her brow was pinched with annoyance.

"Seriously..." he heard her muttering while Lavender snickered, then her grin widened when she saw him coming.

"Hi, Harry!" she said loudly and way too happily which let him know they were just talking about him.

"Is your arm better?" Hope asked.

"A little bit... I'll see Madam Pomfrey later."

"Did you hear the fuckery that Parkinson's spewing?" Hope growled as she scooped up her cards, apparently not finished with Lavender's reading judging by the way the blonde protested.

"Neville told me," Harry said simply.

"Well, unlike the pregnancy thing this does like a little suspicious," Lavender said reasonably as she took Hope's cards back and reshuffled. "Hope told us last night how Fred forgot her birthday and how mad she was that she didn't even want to go to Hogsmeade. And now they are saying that you gave her an expensive necklace..."

"My dad gave me that!" Hope proclaimed hotly. "And that cow broke it!"

"Well, I don't think anyone believes that... though considering it came from a high end muggle store... and Harry's muggle raised..."

"Like I even have muggle money!" Harry yelled. "My aunt and uncle barely feed me!"

"See!" Hope said as she laid out three cards for Lavender. "He doesn't have muggle money to go strolling into Tiffany's to get me this!"

"-and it doesn't help that Malfoy chimed in, saying that you gladly took it because Fred forgets everyone's birthdays because he's... y'know, doesn't have a lot of money."

Hope flared as though she wanted to jump to her boyfriend's defense but was still mad about him forgetting her birthday.

"And then the fact neither of you came down for dinner last night..."

"I was tired! I'd just been in a fight! That's the reason she's saying it, because I wiped the floor with her!"

"It was pretty funny..." Harry snickered then blanched at a sudden thought. "Wait? Did Cho believe the rumors?"

"I don't know... You can ask her..." Lavender shrugged. She then looked impatiently at Hope. "Well, what do they say?"

Hope rolled her eyes and focused. "Eight of Pentacles. Right now you're mainly going to worry about your tests. Your past is the Nine of Swords, probably when Black hurt you... And your future is the Three of Swords in reverse."

"Is that bad?" the blond asked as she eyed the card with the crying woman, her painted tear breaking the heart on her cheek.

"Ehh... I just get a feeling you're going to get caught in some drama... and it'll be awkward."

Lavender seemed a bit relieved and arched a brow. "You mean like this?" she asked, gesturing at Hope and Harry.

They both ignored her.

* * *

To Harry's immense relief Fred did not believe the rumors. He caught the older boy during lunch and he easily waved it off.

"It'd be a cold day in hell before I believe anything that comes out of Parkinson's mouth."

However he noticed things between Fred and Hope were back to being frosty again.

"Did you at least apologize for forgetting her birthday?" Harry asked.

"I was going to make it up to her in Hogsmeade. But, she decided to be a brat and not show up."

It _really_ didn't help that Hope heard that and stormed out of the Hall to go to her detention.

Also, apparently Cho had heard the rumors and, like Fred, didn't believe a word of them. Or, so she claimed. However, he noticed the older girl's eyes narrow slightly when Hope returned from her detention.

* * *

"He forgot _my_ birthday and I'm the brat?! He should've come looking for me then!"

Hope was now pacing angrily in her dorm. She was freshly showered and a bit sparkly due to the Fairy Flourish body wash and still quite livid from what she heard Fred say.

"Well... at least he doesn't believe it?" Lavender said timidly.

"Oh, shut up." Hope snapped.

"Oh, look a full moon in Scorpio..." Parvati said as she went over her star chart, looking at Hope pointedly. At the words 'full moon' Hope calmed the slightest bit. "Either way," the dark haired girl continued "Just don't go wandering around like a zombie like the last time you two were in a fight."

"Merlin's beard, that was annoying..." Lavender sighed.

There was a loud snap and the others looked up to see Hermione shutting her giant Muggle Studies book and headed for the exit. "I can't work with you hens clucking about..." she stopped for a moment and turned to Hope. "Though if you want my opinion; it was highly selfish of him to forget your birthday in the wake of winning the Quidditch Cup. But it would've been sensible if you had found him and talked to him about it." Then she left.

"I'd like to see how sensible she acts when she gets a boyfriend," Parvati scoffed and the others nodded in agreement.

"Well, let's go down to dinner," Lavender said suddenly but Parvati stood.

"No, let's eat up here. I'll get the food."

Hope sighed and flopped on the bed. She was getting sick and tired of Parvati basically treating her like a fucking Minotaur.

"What I really want to know," Lavender said as she got comfortable with one of Hope's trashy romance novels, "is why didn't _Parkinson_ go to Hogsmeade?"

That was a good question.

* * *

Fred and Hope didn't make up until that Thursday evening. As she was leaving Defense Against the Dark Arts class he roughly shoved into her. She looked up, outraged, but calmed down when she saw Katie Bell and Lee Jordan rushing down the hall past them. Apparently they shoved Fred into her and ran.

A bag of Hogsmeade treats the size of a tote and the goofiest apologetic birthday card had her forgiving him. And a long, thorough kiss had him forgiving her. However, there was this nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was off between them.

However, she really didn't have the time to worry about it. Exams were nearly upon them and even she had to put the snacks down and focus on her studies. She even tried to pay attention in History of Magic but found it pointless. The last time she actually paid attention in that class was last year when everyone asked about the Chamber of Secrets. She decided she'd ask Aunt Bex to send her a giant case of Red Bull, just for that class.

Besides, as it was Fred's fifth year, he was preparing to take OWLs and could actually be spotted working with his twin as well as Lee, Alicia and Angelina. Percy was preparing for NEWTS along with Oliver and would the Head Boy would dole out severe punishments to those who shattered the silence of the common room during the evenings. (She felt so bad for the first year girl who got three days detention just for playing a game of Exploding Snap). Though as exams drew nearer, even she was becoming more on edge though not as much as Hermione.

The week before the exams, she was sitting at breakfast, ecstatic that Aunt Bex had sent her bulk cases of both Red Bull and Monster with a note telling her not to vibrate off into another dimension when she heard a conversation between Harry-whom was back at the Gryffindor table due to the fact that Cho was holed up somewhere studying for her own exams- Ron and Hermione. Apparently they were trying to get her to tell them how she was doing multiple lessons at once when Hedwig had flown in with a note clutched in her beak.

"It's from Hagrid," Harry said waving her over, "Buckbeak's appeal is set for the sixth."

"The same day as exams?"

"No, that's the day we finish our exams," Hermione said shortly and Hope rolled her eyes and cracked open her Red Bull.

"And they're coming up here to do it," Harry said, ignoring them both "And they're... they're bringing and executioner."

"What?!" Hope gasped, coughing when the drink went up her nose and down the wrong pipe.

"They can't do that! It's an appeal! It's like they've already decided!" Hermione exclaimed.

"They can't! All the work we did! They can't just ignore it!" Ron howled.

Harry said nothing but looked over at the Slytherin table. Malfoy was looking to pleased with himself. Even Pansy seemed to back to simpering next to him. More than likely his father had made the decision for the Committee.

"Wonder if hippogriffs run around like chickens when you cut off their heads..." the pale boy snickered and Pansy let out a shrieking giggle.

"Hope, give me that can," Harry declared.

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to smash it into his face!"

"Harry, no!" Hermione admonished.

"Oh, so you can hit him but I can't?"

"Not in front of people..." Hope said calmly as she resumed drinking her drink.

* * *

When the accursed exam week finally rolled around, their was a baleful feeling in the air. That Monday, third years were emerging from the Transfiguration exam, tired and dragging. Hermione was annoying everyone by proclaiming hers looked more like a turtle than a tortoise while that was the least of everyone else's worries.

"Mine still had a flower pattern... Is that going to count against me?" Ron wondered.

"I was able to do it before! How'd mine still have a spout for a tail!?" Hope huffed.

"How on earth did I give it two spouts!?" Harry groaned as he sat down for lunch. "Mine looked like a bleeding Blastoise! I made a bloody Pokemon!"

"A what?" Lavender asked curiously. Apparently Hope hadn't covered Pokemon during the Christmas holidays.

When their Charms exam came after lunch, they were to pair off for Cheering Charms. Parvati, who was normally adept at this Charm after casting on Hope throughout the year, bungled it up and overdid it when she cast it on Lavender. The blond girl broke into a fit of laughter so bad that she toppled over. It seemed that was a common thing for Harry also did the same thing to Ron. Both he and Lavender had to be placed in a quiet room for an hour until they were able return to perform the charms.

Afterward, Hope and Hermione had to head to Ancient Runes for their exam while the others made their way to the common room to study before dinner. Hope found this to be one of the easiest exams due to Aunt Bex's lessons. She finished her practical exam, basic translations as well as wrote a paragraph describing her name, date and place of birth as well as the things she liked and disliked. She finished before anyone else, enjoying the looks on Hermione and Daphne Greengrass's faces as she handed her paper in and asked if she could leave.

At dinner, Harry was eating alone. Ron had gone off to the library look for more books on how to help Hagrid's case with Buckbeak. Hermione was still in her Ancient Runes test along with Hope. The other third years had rushed back to the common room to study and Cho was nowhere to be seen. Then again the Ravenclaw table was basically empty as they tended to take their studied _very_ seriously. So when Hope plopped next to him and reached for a plate, absent Hermione his brows nearly hit his hairline

"You're already finished?" Harry asked in surprise, not used to anyone except Hermione finishing a test first.

Hope tossed her ponytail with pride and smirked. "I learned runes over the summer. It was as easy microwaving pizza rolls." She glanced around the table. "Have you seen Parvati and Lavender?"

"They went to study in the common room to study for exams tomorrow," Harry told her. "We've got Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy and..." the boy let out a sigh "Potions..."

"Ick." She spooned herself a mountain of potatoes and some chicken. "I'm more worried about History of Magic. I never pay attention in that class, even though I toked up on Red Bull. What do you think it'll be on?

Harry could relate. He never paid attention in that class. It was basically nap time. "I think the Witch Hunts... At least I hope so. I learned a lot about them before the start of term."

"Say, Harry..." Hope began. "Have I ever told you what a great catch that was at the last match?"

Harry sighed and smiled. "Get a quill and parchment."

"Yay!" she quickly moved her plate out of the way and grabbed a quill and parchment, taking notes as Harry spoke on everything that Florean Fortescue told him about the Witch Hunts during his stay in Diagon Alley.

"Thanks!" she said happily after taking all of the notes. "You're a life saver."

During Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid, due to his poor spirits, had given them the easiest exam ever. All they had to do was keep a flobberworm alive until the end of the class. As flobberworms were best when left alone everyone spent most of the exam minding their own business. It gave them plenty of time to talk to Hagrid "Beaky's getting depressed..." the told them as he pretended to check Harry's worm, then Hope "Been cooped up too long. But still we'll know one way or the other... A' least he got ter meet that vampire..."

"She came back?" Ron asked, astonished.

"Did she find Black?" Hope asked.

"Nah, but she did get shot by a centaur though... She's fine though."

"How is she fine? An arrow should've killed her," Hermione whispered.

"Did they shoot something that wasn't the heart?" Harry asked but Hagrid had went to check someone else's worm. And once class was over they had no chance to ask him due to the Potions exam next.

During Potions, both Hope and Harry had issues with their Confusing Concoction though Hope managed to get hers to thicken more than Harry's. However when Snape scribbled something on his chart that looked like a zero she wanted to chuck one of her Red Bulls at his greasy head.

Astronomy was rather easy though she tended to get the moons of Jupiter and Saturn mixed up (Seriously, why did they have to have more than sixty moons and what did they _matter_?)

The next day was History of Magic and Hope glanced over at Harry, noticing he was writing with confidence and she tried to remember everything that he had told her that Monday about the witch hunts as well as her own knowledge of the Salem Witch Trials. And so far the worst was Herbology. Nothing like taking a test, in thick robes in a greenhouse in ninety degree Fahrenheit weather. And while the sunburn she sustained healed quickly, the others were not as lucky.

"Parv?" she asked gently when they went into their dorms. The poor girl normally didn't burn but due to where she was placed in the greenhouse she was near the color of a lobster. "Why didn't you go to Madam Pomfrey?"

"Because she's overstocked with N.E.W.T students who had a freak out..." Parvati moaned, wincing as she pulled off her robes with careful, pained movements.

Hope sighed and glanced around. Lavender, Hermione and Fey hadn't returned yet.

"Here..." she grabbed her wand and cast a Slicing charm, slicing her hand with it. She then grabbed Parvati's water goblet and bled into it, giving it to her friend. "Drink, you look like a lobster."

Parvati looked at her like she was crazy but eventually took the cup and drank, moaning in relief as the burns healed and she was back to her normal bronze color. "Thanks..." She then sat on her bed, her movement no longer pained. "I have a question. Have you ever given your blood to anyone else?"

"Nope."

"Have you ever wanted to?"

When Hope flushed and turned away, Parvati arched a brow and opened her mouth to question her but at that moment the rest of the girls entered to change for dinner, so the subject dropped. A fact of which Hope was glad.

There would be no way she'd be able to live it down if she told her friend that on her birthday, just because of a bruise, she had been tempted to give her blood to Harry.

T.T.T

Thursday's exam, Defense Against the Dark Arts, was the most bizarre. Lupin had created a sort of obstacle course outside. They had to wade across a deep pool that contained a grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, make their way through a marsh while ignoring the hinkypunk that tried to fool them, then climb into a trunk and battle a new boggart.

When Harry climbed out of the trunk, grinning after he did everything right, Lupin awarded him with full marks. He plopped between Hope and Parvati to watch the others' progress. Ron did well until the hinkypunk confused him and he sunk into the marsh. Hermione made it all the way to the end and entered the trunk. A minute later she ran out screaming.

"Hermione! What's the matter?" Lupin asked in alarm.

"P-P-Professor McGonagall! She said I failed everything!"

Hope had to bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from laughing as they tried to calm Hermione down. Lupin then called her to take her exam. Still fighting off giggles, Hope began. She did well enough, though the hinkypunk nearly got her and when she entered the trunk, braced herself to face off against the illusion of her grandmother.

Harry and Ron were patting Hermione on the back, though Ron was sniggering a bit. They began to make their way to the castle, passing a giggling Parvati and Lavender who were waiting on Hope.

"What's taking her so long?" Lavender asked.

Finally the trunk burst open and Hope stumbled out to her hands and knees, pale and shaking.

"Hope? What happened?" Lupin asked gently, stooping to help her up.

She said nothing and stumbled away from the group, swiping at her eyes, heading toward the castle. Parvati and Lavender chased after her.

"I'll go check on her..." Hermione said, heading after the girls, leaving Harry and Ron alone.

"D'you think she saw that woman again? Like from last time?" Ron asked.

"Harry, who knew what had happened to her as well as the story behind that woman, said nothing.

* * *

"Hope? Come out of there. It was just a boggart. Come on, you need to eat something."

Parvati was busily knocking on the bathroom stall door that Hope was behind. Lavender had gone off to get a Calming Draught from Madam Pomfrey.

When Hope finally exited, red eyed and sniffling, Parvati pulled her into a hug. "Hey... What happened? Was it that woman from last time? Do you need a Cheering Charm?"

"No..." Hope sniffled. "It was something else..." she swallowed audibly and pulled away to look at her. "It was-"

"Is she all right?" Hermione had just come in, carrying Hope's bag.

"She's fine... If only she'd _eat something_" Parvati said with a pointed look at Hope. "Exams are nearly over, you should take your mind off this. Go find Fred for a lunchtime snog if he's not in an exam right now."

"I think I'll just lay down..." she said quietly as Lavender came in with a small vial.

"I told Madam Pomfrey I had to face a boggart and freaked out along with exam pressure. She gave me a sleeping potion for today since we only have one exam left tomorrow."

Hope gladly took it right then and there, not expecting it to work so suddenly. She dropped like a log onto the tiled floor.

"Bloody hell..." Parvati took one of her arms and Lavender took the other while Hermione carried her bag. They dragged her out of the bathroom, hoping to find a boy to carry her all the way to Gryffindor Tower.

Thank God Oliver had just finished an exam.

**Okay, I'm going to stop it here because this is getting crazy long. But, don't worry. I'll be continuing right after I upload this. Let's just get it out there that other than a cute, temporary one-sided crush, there will be no Hagrid/Rebekah. I love Hagrid/Olympe too much to ever change that. Though, as for Rebekah... You'll see! Until next time, lovelies! **


	22. Chapter 22

**Okay. Just to let everyone know, I recently went over and redid chapters 1 through 11. They are, hopefully, easier to read. There are also more scenes in some of them, adding length. I particularly had fun with chapters 6 and 7 which showcases the first year journey as well as the third year first day back. Kindly tell me what you think of the new revisions. Now, on with the show! :D Also, this chapter is LONG! Well over 37,000 words. I hope this makes up for my hiatus... though I'm not a fan of it due to the fact it's a lot like the book in some parts. Please, review and let me know what you think. Ok, enough babbling... On with the show.  
**

A grumbling stomach had Hope waking up hours later. Yawning, she opened her eyes to find herself in her dorm. How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was crying in the bathroom because of-

Her stomach lurched when it all came back to her.

The exam! The boggart! What she had seen...

Swallowing, she got out out of bed and glanced at the clock. It was nearing nine o'clock. She had missed lunch as well as dinner. Ugh, there was no way she was getting to sleep unless she took another potion. Maybe she could get one of the older students to brew her one.

Or she could ask Hermione to talk about Arithmancy. That mess would put anyone to sleep!

She took a deep breath and sighed. Her attempts at inner humor were not working. She was unable to forget what she had encountered in the trunk earlier today.

_Well, look on the bright side... At least you're not afraid of Esther as much as you used to be..._

The thought gave no comfort.

So, she turned to logic to calm herself. It was only natural that her boggart would change from Esther to what she had seen. Considering the year that she had, Esther had hardly been at the center of her mind.

That thought brought little comfort.

"Ugh! This is just stupid! If only I knew what-" Now Hope froze and smacked herself on the forehead. She was an idiot...

Opening her nightstand drawer, she pulled out the small velvet bag that contained her rune stones and gave the bag a good shake to mix them. She then cast three, focusing on the unease her changed boggart had caused.

Mannaz. Isa, Nauthiz.

Self. Standstill. Distress.

Hope scoffed. "Way to be vague, higher powers that be..." She propped her chin on her hand and studied the runes. Why did she have the feeling the runes were telling her that whatever happened, it was up to her or some New Age crap like that?

Maybe her mistake was doing this while she was hungry. She opened the nightstand drawer again to see if she had any chocolate frogs or cauldron cakes left and pouted when she came up empty. She had eaten them all weeks ago. But still, sometimes she got lucky...

The door to the dorms opened and Hope looked up to see Lavender entering with what looked like a large bowl. The smell of bread and chicken reached Hope's nose and her mouth watered.

"Hope, you're awake!" Lavender said happily and brought the bowl to Hope's bed. Inside were two chicken breasts, a helping of roasted potatoes, steak and kidney pie, steamed broccoli with melted cheese, two pieces of chocolate cake and treacle tart.

"Lavender, you are my goddess!" Hope said gratefully as the other girl set the bowl in Hope's lap.

"Oliver Wood brought you to the common room and Katie Bell and Angelina sort of carried you up here. Boys can't get into the girls dorms, you know," Lavender explained. "And we knew you wouldn't wake up in time for dinner so we figured we'd bring the food here," Lavender said and pulled a bottle of butterbeer from her backpack.

"Who's 'we?' and where'd you get the bowl?" Hope asked through a mouthful of potatoes.

"Me, Parvati and Hermione. Hermione's the one who gave you all the broccoli... I was the one who put the cheese on it. Padma got Cedric to conjure the bowl after Parvati told her what happened. Oh, and Harry suggested we add the piece of treacle tart."

There was a silence between the two before Lavender spoke up again. "Hope, what happened? Was it that woman again?" she asked, referring to the boggart. "Because she's just a racist cunt."

"Lavender! You used the C-word!" Hope exclaimed, mainly as an attempt to keep from talking about this subject.

"I hang around you too much," Lavender said easily and waited for an explanation.

"It wasn't her..." Hope said uneasily.

"What was it then?"

Hope felt the color leaving her face. "I don't want to talk about it..."

Lavender let out a small sigh. "Hope..."

"Don't mother me..."

"I'm a Cancer, I can't help it," Lavender retorted.

"You're a Gemini-Cancer cusp," Hope said.

"Yes, which makes me nosy with terrible boundaries and a gossip."

"The first step is admitting you have a problem..."

"Hey!"

"But, as long as you don't gossip like Marietta, then I'm cool." Hope took a swig of her drink. And then she latched onto something else, mainly to take the conversation away from the boggart. "Speaking of that skank! Did you know she was the one who was saying that I said I was too good for Fred?"

"I think Sorting Hat should've put her in Slytherin..." Lavender said in disgust then her eyes widened. "Oh..."

"What?" Hope asked.

"Was that it? What the boggart turned into? You and Fred breaking up?" the blond asked sympathetically.

Hope's mouth fell open and she was about to tell her 'no' before thinking better of it. "Yes... Yes, it was..."

"Ohh..." Lavender reached forward and hugged her and Hope returned the embrace awkwardly. "I wouldn't worry...Though it makes sense that your boggart would change right after the madness in Hogsmeade with Patricia Stimpson. But, I heard she's looking at Roger Davies now so I wouldn't worry about her. Besides, Fred would have to be a complete moron to leave you."

Hope let out a nervous laugh, her stomach twisting over lying to her friend. However, it was easier than telling the truth. That her boggart had turned into-

"Oh, guess what happened at dinner! This is certain to cheer you up!" Lavender said suddenly. "Malfoy and Parkinson had a huge row. He kept going on and on about something while she was trying to get his attention and then she snapped, stood up and shrieked 'You never pay attention to what _I_ want!' and left in a huff!"

"What'd she want? Wet dog food and he gave her the dry kibble?" Hope cracked just as the other girls entered.

"Oh, you're awake," Parvati said and sat next to her. "So, are you going to tell us what the boggart turned into?"

Hope blanched and occupied her mouth with her butterbeer.

"The boggart turned into Fred dumping her..." Lavender said gently.

Parvati's brows rose and she looked at Hope for clarification. The American gave a sheepish shrug and a nod before going back to her drink.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about that..." Parvati said though she didn't seem to buy it. Hermione also seemed not to buy it as well but didn't say anything.

"Speaking of worrying," Hope said to Parvati, wanting to get her perceptive friend's attention off of the issue "Are you still worried about Cho Chang going after Cedric?"

"Wait, what?" Hermione said from behind her Muggle Studies textbook.

"If Padma's not worried, I'm not worried. Besides, Cedric's too much of a decent person to cheat on my sister. And I don't think Chang has a death wish..."

Lavender and Hope giggled at that before the blond moved to study her Divination book with Parvati due to the fact that they had an exam in that class tomorrow. Hope wasn't too fussed about that class. She might drop it either way.

However, her mind went to the boggart and her stomach twisted again. Getting up, she changed out of her wrinkled uniform and into her favorite pair of summer pajamas and tried to get some sleep, even though she had been out for hours before.

Sleep didn't come until nearly four o'clock that morning.

* * *

That next morning Harry had come down for breakfast and automatically noticed that Hope was absent from the table. When Parvati and Lavender came down he asked if she was all right.

"We tried to wake her up," Lavender sighed. "Hit her with pillows and everything but she wouldn't budge..."

"She'd been up all night," Parvati said. "Hadn't had a lick of sleep and didn't study either. And we have our Divination exam today."

"Did she say what had happened yesterday?" Harry asked. "Was it that woman?"

"Her racist cunt of a grandmother?" Lavender offered, causing both Harry and Ron's brows to arch at her language. "No. She said her boggart changed."

"Into what?" Ron asked.

"I can't say. It isn't my business..."

However, Harry noticed Lavender glance at Fred who was busy trying to levitate a 'curse me' sign onto Slytherin Marcus Flint's back.

After breakfast Harry, Ron and Hermione had gone to the common room to study but only remained there for a few hours until the heat of the room became too much and decided to leave. While the Gryffindor common room was lovely during the fall and winter and tolerable during the spring, it was near unbearable during the summer. Why did they have to keep the fires burning the entire year?

They headed on their way to the main entrance, hoping to get some studying in outside as it was a lovely summer day. However, those plans were derailed at the sight that met them outside on the steps leading to Hogwarts castle.

Cornelius Fudge stood staring out grounds, sweating slightly in his pinstriped cloak. He started at the sight of Harry.

"Hello there, Harry!" the man said. "On your way to an exam, I expect?"

"It's not until noon, sir," said Harry. Hermione and Ron hung back awkwardly as they were not on speaking terms with the Minister of Magic.

"Ah, some last minute studying outside, then? Lovely day for it," Fudge said looking out at the grounds. "Pity, pity..." He then sighed and turned back to the boy.

"I'm here on an unpleasant mission, Harry. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness to the execution of a mad hippogriff. As I needed to visit Hogwarts to check on the Black situation, I was asked to step in."

"Does that mean the appeal's already happened?" Ron asked furiously, stepping forward.

"No, no, it's scheduled for this afternoon," Fudge replied with a curious glance toward Ron.

"Then you might not have to witness an execution at all! The hippogriff might get off!" Ron declared hotly.

However, before the man could reply he was joined by two other men. One was a wizened old wizard who appeared to wasting away before their eyes. The other was tall and strapping with a thin black mustache. They must have been representatives of the Committee of the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures.

"I'm getting far too old for this," the wizened wizard declared tiredly.

The other wizard was fingering something at his belt which, to Harry's horror, was the sharpened blade of an axe. The group then turned to head to, Harry guessed, Dumbledore's office. Ron opened his mouth to call after them but Hermione elbowed him hard in the ribs and motioned for them to head back to the common room.

"Why'd you stop me?" Ron asked Hermione angrily. "Did you see them?! They even had an axe!"

"Ron, your dad works for the Ministry. You can't go saying things like that to his boss!" Hermione said though she also seemed upset. "It's still the appeal. As long as Hagrid keeps his head, everything will be fine..."

However, she didn't seem to believe her own words.

Lunch time had come and the trio ate with the rest of the school, though while everyone else was happy exams were nearly over, all Harry, Ron and Hermione could think about was the impending appeal.

* * *

A nightmare of the boggart had Hope waking up, screaming, to an empty dorm room. Panting, she reached and grabbed her alarm clock. She had missed breakfast and lunch and she gasped when she saw her exam was in a quarter of an hour.

She rushed to the bathroom for a quick shower and to brush her teeth. She then yanked on a fresh uniform and had to do a mad dash from Gryffindor Tower, downstairs and all the way to the North Tower where Divination was taught. She was hoping and praying that she wasn't too late; huffing and puffing as she ran up the spiral steps only to stop when she reached the seventh floor. There was a line of people outside, each of them with their books open on their laps. She caught sight of Lavender and Parvati who were at the front of the line and waved to catch their attention.

"Hey, you're finally awake!" Lavender said, relieved though she didn't leave her spot.

"Why's everyone out here?" Hope asked, taking a seat on the steps next to Neville just as Harry and Ron joined them.

"She's seeing us all separately," Neville told them as he cracked open his textbook. "Has anyone ever seen anything in the crystal ball?" Neville asked.

"Nope," Ron said, not caring as he looked at his watch. He, like Harry, was anxious about the appeal.

Beside her, Parvati and Lavender were quivering with anticipation for this exam and Hope huffed. Her mood was not the greatest right now. The thing with the boggart was still fresh on her mind, she hadn't eaten a thing since last night, she had been nearly late, (she was also pretty sure her period was coming as well) and now these two hens and their clucking were getting on her last nerve. It seemed as if everything was working her last nerve today that she hissed at her two friends. "Good grief, it's a test, not a Chippendale show. Get a grip."

"A what?" Neville asked as the line grew shorter but she refused to explain. Parvati and Lavender scowled at her though they had no clue what she meant. Neither did Harry but he hardly cared either way.

When people returned from their exams, the others asked questions such as "How was it?" and "What did she ask?" Only no one answered.

"She said if I tell you, I'd die horribly!" Neville whimpered as he hastily made his way down the ladder.

"Hey, Neville, look. Gullible's on the ceiling," Hope said snidely to his retreating back. Harry blinked at her in surprise. She was usually so nice to Neville and Harry was about to tell her off but was beaten to it.

"Don't be mean!" Parvati admonished as Lavender went up the ladder for her exam. "What's he ever done to you? Vent on someone who deserves it, like Pansy. Only... not too much."

God! Hope was so sick of Parvati treating her like a landmine! Like she didn't have enough to deal with! Hope's lips curled and she clenched her fists. Her anger was reaching critical mass before she could get a handle on it. "Gee, like I didn't know that!"

"I get the feeling I'm missing something..." Ron said to Harry as he watched the two girls argue. They were used to Hope and Parvati getting along quite well.

"Don't get rabid with me when I'm only trying to help you! That's all I've done is help you!" Parvati growled.

"Rabid!? Oh, nice!"

"Sometimes I think you use your whole... _thing_ as an excuse to be an... an..._asshole!"_

And then it went nuclear.

"_WOW!_ Parvati, you had a thought! Should I organize a parade? I was sure that was Padma's specialty."

Parvati's eyes went wide and she recoiled as if slapped. Harry and Ron watched the scene in awkward trepidation when Lavender had emerged, glowing with pride. "I think I did quite well!" She stopped, smile falling from her face when she saw the charged scene between her two best friends. "What's wrong?"

Parvati said nothing, only flipped her long dark hair back and made her way up the ladder. Hope leaned against the wall with her arms folded, scowling.

Poor Lavender looked back and forth between her friends, then to Harry and Ron as if hoping one of them would give her an explanation. They both shrugged.

When Parvati came back down she seemed happy though she pointedly ignored Hope. "She said I had the makings of a true seer," she told Lavender.

Hope only scoffed and made her way up the trap door to take her exam. After about ten minutes she came back down.

"How'd it go?" Ron asked. "Oh, and you won't believe what happened earlier."

She said nothing and continued down the steps, not looking at either of them. Harry then turned to Ron who shrugged before heading up the ladder for his exam.

Time seemed to go by quite slow as Harry waited for his turn. He was now the only one who hadn't been tested. He leaned back against the wall, mind solely on Hagrid and Buckbeak.

Twenty minutes passed and Ron finally came down. "It was complete rubbish. I just made a bunch of stuff up. Don't know if she bought it though." He made his way down the stairs. "I'll meet you in the common room."

"Harry Potter," the misty voice called and Harry made his way up the ladder.

It was stifling, even worse than usual. The curtains were drawn, the air was thick with incense and the fire was also going. Why she had a fire going when it was already sweltering, he had no idea. Harry coughed as he tripped over the various chairs and tables to where Professor Trelawney sat waiting with a large crystal ball.

"Good day, my dear," she said softly. "Kindly gaze into the Orb... Take your time. Then, tell me what you see within it."

Harry went to the table and nearly fell face first when he tripped over a broken chair leg. Professor Trelawney noticed and sighed, flicking her wand "_Reparo." _The chair repaired itself. "Poor young Hope, I'm afraid, went into a right state at what she saw in the Orb and left before I even dismissed her."

"What'd she see?" Harry asked suddenly. Did she see something about Buckbeak?

"Don't you worry about that, dear. Now, gaze into the Orb..."

Harry bent over the crystal ball, eager to get this over with so he could receive the news of the appeal. He stared as hard as he could but the only thing in the ball that he saw was the same swirling smoke.

"Well? What do you see?" Professor Trelawney asked delicately.

As the only thing he could see was the smoke, and the heat was beginning to make him feel weak, the perfumed smoke giving him a headache, he only saw himself leaving this room. He decided to do what Ron said and fake it.

"Er... a dark shape..." He cast his mind around. "A hippogriff."

"Indeed!" now the woman wrote excitedly on the parchment she had sitting on her legs. "Look closely, does the hippogriff appear to have its head?"

_This cow..._

"Yes!" Harry said firmly.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Are you quite sure, dear? Does it seem to be writhing on the ground, perhaps? A shadowy figure with an axe behind it?"

"NO!" Harry snapped, stomach churning at her words.

"No blood? No weeping Hagrid?"

_For the love of God, you vulture!_

"NO!" He snapped again, wanting nothing more than to be away from her and this uncomfortable room. "It's fine... it's flying away..."

The woman let out a sigh. "Very well, I think we will end it here. A tad disappointing but I'm sure you tried your best."

Relieved to get out of the room and away from her, Harry grabbed his bag and turned to leave, but then a harsh voice spoke behind him.

"_It will happen tonight."_

Harry turned, eyes narrowing as he looked at her. She had gone rigid, eyes staring blankly and her mouth sagged.

"I'm sorry?" Harry asked, slightly afraid.

She didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she let out a loud gasp, straining in her seat and shaking. Harry's heart began to pound. Was she having a seizure or a stroke? Should he go to the hospital wing? He was just about to do so when Professor Trelawney spoke in the same guttural tones.

"_The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight... the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master, gaining along the way, formidable ally. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than before. Tonight... before midnight... the servant will set out to rejoin... his... master..."_

Professor Trelawney's head drooped forward onto her chest. She grunted as if awakening from a nap. Harry stared at her, wide-eyed and heart pounding. Then, her head snapped up again.

"I'm terribly sorry, my dear boy," she said sleepily and gave a sheepish smile. "The heat of the day... I drifted off for a moment."

Harry couldn't find his words. He could only stare at her as if Stunned.

"Is something the matter, dear?" she asked.

"Y-you..." it seemed speech had returned to him. "You said that... You told me that the... the Dark Lord is going to rise again... that his servant's going back with him and bringing an ally..."

Professor Trelawney paled, her eyes going wide behind her huge glasses, making her appear even more bug-eyed. "The Dark Lord? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? My dear, that is hardly something to joke about!"

"I'm not joking! You just said it! You said that The Dark Lord-"

"Clearly you must have dozed off as well!" Professor Trelawney declared "I would not presume to predict something as ridiculous as that! You would do well with a rest in your common room. Clearly the pressure of the exams has gotten to you..."

Harry went back down the ladder and down the stairs. Once his feet hit the floor he took off, marveling at what he had just heard. Was she faking it as a dramatic way to end the test? Or was that a real prediction?

He passed the security trolls outside of Gryffindor Tower. He could still hear the guttural words she spoke in his ears. People passed him, laughing happily as they made their way for the grounds for some post-exam freedom. When he entered the common room it was empty save for Hermione and Ron.

"Guys!" he ran over to them, panting from his sprint across the school "Professor Trelawney just told me that-"

"Hagrid lost..." Ron said weakly.

All thoughts of Trelawney flew from Harry's head. "What?"

"He just sent us this..." Hermione said, voice trembling, as she handed him the note.

_Lost appeal. They're going to execute at sunset. _

_Nothing you can do. Don't come down. I don't want you to see it._

_Hagrid_

"We can't just let Hagrid sit there on his own, waiting for the executioner!" Harry declared.

And they wouldn't. They concocted a plan in a hurry. While Ron and Harry wanted to get the Invisibility Cloak, they were afraid of what would happen if Snape were to see him near the One-Eyed Witch which was where Harry had left the cloak. However, as Hermione did not have that problem, she ventured to retrieve the cloak, much to the shock of the boys.

They then went down to dinner with everyone else, however he sat with Ron and Hermione when Cho had tried to wave him over to the Ravenclaw table. He was too focused on Hagrid and Buckbeak that he didn't notice the scowl on his girlfriend's face.

"Hey, there's Hope," Ron said nodding toward the entrance. The girl had entered, jaw set with a book in hand and sat down at the far end of the table. "Should we ask her to come with us?"

"Don't be silly... she couldn't fit under the cloak with all three of us," Hermione said but Harry ignored her and moved to where Hope was sitting. She was gnashing a piece of roast beef angrily. He also noticed that she wasn't sitting with Parvati and Lavender as usual. Parvati was sitting four seats away from Hope, engaged in a conversation with the quiet Fey Dunbar while Lavender looked back and forth between her two best friends, a look of total helplessness on her face.

"Hey, Hope?" Harry tapped her on the back and she took a deep breath through her nose as if she wanted nothing more than for him to get lost.

"I'm not giving you a reading so _don't_ even ask me," she said without looking up from her book.

"That's not what I was going to ask you," he said impatiently. "We're sneaking down to Hagrid's and since you helped us with-" He didn't even get to finish because she simply got up from the table, back turned as if his problems were beneath her notice. But, instead of going to meet Ron and Hermione like he thought she would so they could plan, she left the Hall without a word or a glance.

Harry was so incensed by her behavior that he stormed off after her through the empty hallway. "Fine!" he shouted at her. "Be that way. See if anyone cares. Keep being right awful to everyone just because of a boggart or whatever your problem is this week. Go on and have your pity party. Buckbeak's only being _executed!_ No big deal." And with that he turned and headed back to the others in the Hall, not seeing the way she froze in wake of his words.

* * *

Back in the Hall, Harry (though he was in a foul mood following his meeting with Hope) Hermione and Ron left dinner with everyone else but did not return to Gryffindor Tower. Instead they ducked inside an empty chamber off of the entrance hall, waiting until they were sure it was deserted.

Once it was silent, meaning the last pair of feet had scurried off and a door slammed, Hermione poked her head behind the door.

"Okay... It's clea-"

"Hi."

Hermione, to her credit, did not shriek when Hope appeared out of nowhere; though she did nearly jump out of her skin. Ron and Harry scrambled to yank them both back into the chamber.

"What are you doing here?" Harry hissed.

"You asked me to come along, didn't you?" Hope replied with narrowed eyes.

Harry eyed her shrewdly and when she adverted her eyes from his, he had the feeling that she had heard what he said, but was too stubborn to admit it. That was all well with him, as long as she came along.

"Is that the Cloak?" she asked, gesturing to the shimmery bundle. "Awesome."

"She knows about the Cloak?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"They're really loud," Hope said easily in explanation, gesturing to the boys.

"Hope, while it's nice you want to come, I don't know if the Cloak will cover four people..." Hermione said uneasily.

"It covered us and a dragon well enough during our first year," Harry remarked. They were wasting time talking. "Everyone just get close together, and if it doesn't cover us all... er... Hope..."

"I'll scram," she said simply.

That issue settled, Harry draped the Cloak over himself and Ron first, noting Hope's gasp as they disappeared in front of her.

"Wow..." she muttered.

There was some awkwardness at first and there was a moment when they feared Hope may have to head back to Gryffindor Tower. But, after a while they figured out the best way to cover everyone. The boys were to be behind the girls as Ron was the tallest of the group and could see where they were going over the girls heads. Hope and Hermione were pressed shoulder to shoulder, their backs to the boys' chests as they clutched the ends of the Cloak to keep it shut. They moved slowly together across the hall, then down the stone steps to the grounds.

There was a misplaced step here and there which caused the cloak to nearly slide from the boys as one of the girls moved too fast. Hermione rectified this by reaching back with her free hand to grasp Ron's hand which had the redhead letting out a startled noise. Harry placed his hands on Hope's shoulders and tried to keep from stepping on the backs of her heels, though every now and again she let out a wince due to his misplaced steps. Her high ponytail brushed against his face as they walked and he caught the scent of her hair, which, while it smelled like candy as usual, also carried the scent of some sort of fruit that he found pleasing.

After what felt like a life time they had finally made it to Hagrid's cabin. They knocked and within a minute Hagrid answered. The giant man saw no one at the door and he looked about for his visitor, pale and trembling so much that Hope's heart strings clenched.

"It's us," Harry whispered. "And Hope. We're wearing the Invisibility Cloak."

"Yeh shouldn've come!" Hagrid hissed but stood back to let them in. Once they were in and the door was shut, they pulled the cloak off.

Hagrid was not crying, nor was he breaking down on top of them. Instead, he looked as if he had no idea what to do or where he was. It was worse than tears in the kids' opinions.

"Alrigh' there, Hope? Heard yeh had a rough go of it yesterday," he asked as he reached for a large kettle. "Wan' some tea?"

Hope felt ashamed that she was pouting about stuff that didn't matter when Hagrid was going through such turmoil. "I'll be okay..." she said softly, stomach clenching.

"Where's Buckbeak?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"I... I took him outside," Hagrid said, spilling milk as he filled the jug. "He's tethered in me pumpkin patch. Thought he oughta see the trees... an..." he hiccuped as a sob caught his throat. "Smell the air... before... before..."

Hagrid's trembling hands caused the milk jug to to slip from his grasp and shattered all over the floor. He bent to clean the mess but Hermione beat him to it.

"I'll do it, Hagrid," she said quickly, hurrying over and cleaning up the mess.

"There's another one in the cupboard," Hagrid said as he sat down, wiping his forehead on his sleeve. Harry and Ron exchanged forlorn looks and Hope let out a noise that sounded like a strangled sob.

"Isn't there anything anyone can do?" Harry demanded. "Maybe Dumbledore or someone?"

"He's tried," Hagrid said. "He's got no power to overrule the Ministry. He told 'em that Buckbeak's all right, but they're scared. Yeh know what Lucius Malfoy's like... threatened 'em, I expect..."

Hope let out a sound like an angry bull. "Someone needs to slap him!"

Hagrid gave a feeble sound somewhere between a sob and chuckle. "Tha'd be no good... The executioner, Macnair's an old pal o' Malfoy's... but it'll be quick an' clean... an' I'll be beside him..."

Hope swallowed and looked helplessly at Harry who returned the look. Tears were pooling in her eyes and her lips were quivering. Her fist clenched the napkin in front of her, her breathing becoming choppy as she sniffled.

"Anyway..." Hagrid said, turning their attention back to him. "Dumbledore's gonna come down and be with me when..." another choked sob "when it happens... Great man, Dumbledore..."

Hermione let out a stifled sob as she pulled out another milk jug. She placed the new jug on the table "We'll stay with you too, Hagrid..." she began but he stopped her.

"Yeh lot go back up ta the castle. I don' want yeh watchin. An' yeh shouldn' be down here anyway... If Fudge an' Dumbledore catch yeh, Harry, yeh'll be in big trouble..."

Hermione, who was stifling sobs and making certain Hagrid didn't see her tears, busied herself with making the tea. She picked up the milk bottle to pour some into the jug and let out a shriek.

"Ron! It's... it's Scabbers!"

Ron's mouth dropped.

"Come off it..." the boy said but stood to see what she was talking about.

Hermione turned the jug upside down onto the table. There was a frantic squeak but Scabbers the rat came tumbling out onto the table.

"Scabbers! What are you doing in there?" Ron exclaimed, reaching for the rat.

The rat looked horrible, thinner than ever with large tufts of fur missing. The rat writhed within Ron's hands as though desperate for escape.

"It's okay, Scabbers," Ron said trying to soothe the rat but to no avail, "Nothing's here to hurt you..."

Hagrid then bolted to his feet, eyes fixed on the window. The great man's complexion went pale.

"They're comin..."

The teens all whipped around. A group of men were walking down the castle steps. In the front of the group was Dumbledore, his beard glinting in the setting sun. Next to him was Cornelius Fudge. Behind him was the feeble old wizard and the executioner Macnair.

"Yeh gotta go," Hagrid said, trembling. "They can't find yeh here... Go on, go!"

Ron stuffed Scabbers into his pocket and Harry grabbed the cloak.

"I'll let yeh out back..." Hagrid said.

They followed him to his door and into the back garden. To Harry it felt as if the world was off center, even more so when he saw Buckbeak tied out in the pumpkin patch. The hippogriff seemed to notice something was going on by the way he whimpered and pawed the ground nervously. Hope let out a small, choked sob at the sight.

"It's okay, Beaky..." Hagrid said softly before turning to the teens. "All righ', get goin'..."

But they didn't move.

"Hagrid, we can't-"

"We'll tell them what really happened-"

"They can't kill him!"

"My aunt knows people! And she's way scarier! If Malfoy's dad can buy or scare them off, she can double it!"

"Go!" Hagrid said harshly, not entertaining their nonsense. "It's bad enough without yeh lot getting' in trouble... Go on..."

With no choice left, Harry threw the cloak over the group. Voices could be heard making their way down the path. Hagrid looked at the spot where the four had vanished.

"Don't listen..." he said hoarsely.

Someone knocked on the front door of the cabin and Hagrid went back inside.

The group set off silently around Hagrid's house. Once they reached the other side the door closed with a snap.

They made their way up the sloping lawn toward the school, the only sound being the girls' stifled sobs. The sun was setting and the sky turned a beautiful twilight purple. It was a horrible irony considering what was now taking place.

Ron stopped in his tracks.

"What are you doing?" Hope asked weakly through tears. "Let's get out of here..."

"It's Scabbers," the boy grunted. "He won't stay still..."

Ron was trying to keep the rat in his pocket, but with very little success. The rodent was squeaking madly, twisting and trying to bite Ron's hand.

"Scabbers, you idiot! It's me, Ron."

They heard a door behind them open and the sound of men's voices.

"Scabbers, stay _still-"_

"Ron, let's go..." Hope hissed.

"Ron, please..." Hermione begged. "They're going to do it..."

They walked forward, all of them trying not to listen to the voices and what was to come soon.

Ron stopped again.

"I can't hold him. Scabbers, shut up!"

"For the love of..." Hope huffed and this time turned to help Ron keep the rat still, earning a bite to the hand for her trouble. "Ow! You little shit!" she hissed.

The rat's shrill squeaking was not loud enough to cover the sounds from Hagrid's garden. There was the mix of male voices.

Silence.

Followed by the baleful swish and thud of an axe.

Hope's hands dropped and she let out a broken gasp. Ron froze. Hermione swayed as if going to faint. Harry felt his mind go blank with horror.

"They... they did it... They actually did it!" Hermione gasped.

The setting sun cast a bloody light over the grounds which now seemed appropriate. The wind picked up and howled at their backs.

"Hagrid..." Harry muttered, thinking of his friend and his turmoil. He turned to head back but Ron and Hermione had grabbed him by the arms.

"We can't," Ron said, all traces of color gone from his face. "He'll be in even more trouble if they know we've been to see him..."

"But we can't just leave him..." Harry began.

"Those... lousy..." Hope began lowly, her pale face turning red with wrath, "good for nothing-"

Hermione let go of Harry and grabbed Hope. "Hope, no... Let's just get back to the castle..."

Hope looked like she wanted to throw the cloak off and head down there to pummel the executioner and everyone else who had a hand in it into a pulp. However a shred of sense cut through the vitriol and she forced herself to breathe normally, using the presence of the group around her as an anchor.

"When we get in the castle... I'm finding the Slytherin common room and kicking Malfoy's ass..."

"I'll show you where it is..." Ron offered weakly as they all set of toward the castle.

They walked slowly to keep themselves hidden under the cloak. Tears were flowing down Hermione's cheeks and Ron grasped her free hand, whether to keep from missing steps, to comfort her or himself was anyone's guess.

Hope glanced back at Harry and felt a bit of her horror and disbelief deflate at the broken look on his face. Most of her feelings were toward the now deceased hippogriff, but Harry's, while for the animal, were also for Hagrid. And while Hope liked the man well enough, she wasn't nowhere near as close to him as Harry was so for him it must have been a double hit. And there wasn't anything he could do for his giant friend which must have made it worse.

Swallowing, she reached her free hand behind her and took hold of Harry's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She felt him tense behind her though he returned the squeeze.

The light was fading fast and when they finally reached the open ground, it was now completely dark.

"Scabbers, hold still," Ron hissed and Hermione jumped. Due to their close proximity she felt it when the rat began wriggling against Ron. He pulled away from Hermione to try to keep the rat in his pocket.

"What's the matter with you, idiot? Stay still-OUCH! He bit me!"

"Ron, be quiet!" Hermione hissed. "Fudge will be heading back here soon..."

"He-won't... stay still!"

The rat was terrified. He was trying with all of his strength to get away from Ron's grip.

"What's wrong with him?" Hope asked.

"Oh bloody hell..." Harry muttered as he saw the cause of the rat's fear.

Eyes glowing in the darkness and his body low to the ground, Crookshanks slinked toward them. It was unknown if the cat could see Scabbers or if he was following the sound of the rat's terrified squeaks. Either way, he was getting dangerously close.

"Crookshanks, no! Go away!" Hermione hissed.

"Scabbers! NO!"

The rat jumped from Ron's grasp, hit the ground and scampered away. Crookshanks sprang after him and without thought, Ron tossed the cloak from himself and took off after them.

"That idiot!" Hope growled.

The three tried to follow as fast as they could but under the cloak it was impossible to run. They pulled it off and they dashed after Ron. The sound of his footfalls and yells could be heard.

"Get away from him, stupid cat! Scabbers, come _here!"_

**THUD!**

"Gotcha! Get off, you stupid cat!"

Harry and the girls skidded to a stop in front of him. He was on the ground, Scabbers back in his pocket and he had both hands held tight over the shivering rodent.

"Ron, we... have... under the cloak..." Hermione panted as Hope and Harry pulled Ron to his feet.

Hermione grabbed the cloak to cover them all but before she could, before any of them caught their breath, there was another sound. The thunder of gigantic paws.

They turned and Hope shrieked, staggering back into Ron. Bounding toward them in the darkness was an enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog.

Harry reached for his wand as the others dove out of the way. But, it was too late. The dog made a grand leap and his front paws hit Harry in the chest and they flew back, far, before he was crushed to the earthen floor. The dog's hot breath was on his face and he could see the formidable teeth.

"HARRY!"

A brunette blur shot forward and tackled the dog, knocking it off of him. Dazed, and feeling as if his ribs were broken, Harry tried to stand. His eyes widened as he tried to make sense of what he saw.

Hope and the dog had rolled a few feet away from him. The girl had tackled it off of him. But, the dog had gained the upper hand and had her pinned to the ground, snarling at her. Harry felt cold fear wash come over him and he moved forward to save her but the dog leaped off of her and sprung for a new attack.

Ron was on his feet and the dog sprang forward, locking its jaws around Ron's arm. Harry sprang forward, grabbing handfuls of fur but the dog took no notice and dragged Ron away as if he were a doll.

Then, from nowhere, something hit Harry so hard across the face that he was sent flying backward, landing hard. Two shrieks of pain and two thuds told him that both Hope and Hermione were hit as well.

Harry looked for his wand, trying to ignore the sting of blood in his eyes. "Lumos!"

The wand light showed him the trunk of a thick tree; they had chased Scabbers into the shadow of the Whomping Willow. Its branches were creaking, whipping about to keep them from getting closer.

At the base of the tree was the dog, dragging a flailing Ron backward into a large space between the roots. Ron fought but his head and torso disappeared into the hole.

"Ron!" Harry ran forward but a heavy branch whipped through the air. Hope ran forward to cover him but she was caught hard in the stomach and sent flying backwards, landing with a sick thud.

He ran to help her up, wincing at the huge gash on her left arm. She was bleeding heavily. "No, Harry... it's fine-" She tried to cover it but he pushed her hand out of the way, only to freeze at what he saw.

The gaping wound was now slowly healing, without the aid of a charm or potion.

"What in the..."

Hope's eyes darted from her cut to Harry's shocked green eyes, her face going pale as she swallowed with trepidation. But before she could say anything or he could question her Ron's petrified scream and a horrible crack like a gunshot grabbed their attention.

Ron's leg had broken.

The group helplessly watched as the tall redhead was pulled by the giant dog into a hole at the base of the Whomping Willow where he had vanished into the darkness.

"Harry, we've got to go for help!" Hermione gasped, clutching her own bleeding shoulder.

"That thing's big enough to eat him! We've got no time-"

"Harry, we're never going to get through without help-"

"If that dog can get in, then we can!"

Harry darted here and there, looking for a way past the swinging branches, but couldn't get even an inch closer than he was.

"Oh..." Hermione was dancing nervously where she stood "please... someone help..."

Hope stood frozen, breathing heavily over the fact that Harry had seen her heal. Had Hermione seen as well?

_Get a fucking grip! Worry about that later!_

At that moment Crookshanks darted forward. He slithered between the pounding branches like a lizard and placed his front paws on a knot on the trunk.

All of a sudden, as though the tree had been hit with an Immobilization Charm, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched.

"Wait, what?" Hope gasped, the shock of it snapping her out of her inner turmoil.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione gasped in surprise, grasping Harry's arm painfully hard. "How... What..."

"He's friends with that dog..." Harry told her darkly. "I've seen them together. Come on, let's go. Keep your wands out..." He then glanced behind him. "Hope!" he snapped, causing the girl to jump. "Come on..."

She recovered quickly enough and took out her wand. They made their way to the gap in the roots but Crookshanks had slid into the space before them. Harry went next, crawling forward, head first, and slid down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel. Crookshanks was a bit ahead, eyes flashing in the light of Harry's wand. Moments later Hermione slid down beside him followed by Hope.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione whispered, terrified.

"This way," Harry then set off, bent at the back, after Crookshanks.

"Is this how you've been getting into Hogsmeade?" Hope asked as she followed.

"Not this one. There's another one..." Harry told her. "Fred and George said no one's ever gotten into this one. But, it looks like it goes into Hogsmeade, too..."

They moved as fast as they could, bent almost double, as they followed the tuft of Crookshanks' tail. The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever.

All Harry could think of was Ron, that dog and what it might be doing to him. His breath came in small, pained gasps as he ran at a crouch.

Behind the pair, Hope kept her eyes on Harry's back, mind racing at the fact he had seen her heal. Would he tell anyone? Did he think she was a freak?

"Harry..." she began uncertainly.

"Later," was all he said as the tunnel began to rise. He knew what she wanted to talk to him about.

Soon it twisted, and Crookshanks darted. Now a small light could be seen through a small opening. The three paused, gasped for breath and edged forward with pointed wands to see what lay ahead.

It was a room, covered in dust with paper peeing from the walls. There were stains all over the floor. The furniture was broken as though someone smashed it in a fit of rage. All of the windows were boarded up.

Harry glanced at Hermione, then behind him at Hope before pulling himself out of the hole. He saw that no one was in the room, but there was a door to their right which stood open, leading to a hallway.

"Harry, Hope... I think we're in the Shrieking Shack," Hermione whispered.

Harry looked around. His eyes fell to the wooden chair that had been decimated, one of the legs ripped clean off.

"Ghosts don't do that... Right?" Hope squeaked behind him, clutching hard onto his arm.

"No, they don't..." he said slowly.

There was a creak from overhead. Something was moving upstairs. Their eyes darted to the ceiling and both girls latched onto his arms, squeezing so tightly that it was a wonder that they hadn't ripped them clean off. He turned to both of them, brows raised. They nodded and let go.

They then made their way into the hall and up the crumbling staircase. Hope's mind went to every horror movie she had seen, stomach knotting as she imagined some awful axeman killing all three of them. That dog was probably a henchman to someone more terrible. It was almost laughable that she was related to some of the most formidable creatures in the history of the world yet she was wigging out about a dog.

Everything was covered in dust, though there was a wide shiny stripe made by something being dragged up the stairs.

"Nox," they all whispered and their wands went out.

There was only one door opened. They crept toward it, stomachs clenching at the sounds of movements and low, pained moans.

They all exchanged one last look and nod.

Harry took a deep breath and kicked the door wide open.

On a lavish four-poster bed with dusty hangings was Crookshanks, purring loudly at the sight of them. On the floor was Ron, clutching his leg which stuck out at an odd angle.

Harry and Hermione dashed over to him while Hope inched into the room, wand held up, eyes darting around for any sign of a threat.

"Ron- are you okay?" Hermione asked frantically.

"Where's the dog?" Harry asked.

"S' not a dog..." Ron groaned, straining to sit up. "Harry, it's a trap."

"What?"

Hope's eyes widened and she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She whirled around, wand pointed just as a voice croaked out "Expelliarmus!"

Hope's wand flew high into the air and a thin, pale hand with long yellowing nails caught it. Said hand then slammed the door shut and the owner of the hand finally stepped out of the shadows.

His hair hung to his elbows in dark, matted, filthy strands. He was so thin that he could have been a skeleton if eyes hadn't been shining out of the dark sockets. His waxy skin was stretched tight over his face and his teeth were bared in a grin.

Sirius Black.

"He's the dog..." Ron gasped out "He's an Animagus..."

"Oh, you are shitting me..." Hope whimpered as she took a step back.

Black raised Hope's wand as he pocketed Ron's. Harry and Hermione had darted to their feet, wands aimed but Black disarmed them easily with a flick of Hope's wand. He caught theirs as well.

Black took a step closer and Hope stumbled backward to get as far from him as possible. Harry reached forward and grabbed her by the waist, yanking her out of harm's way. Though the man didn't seem interested in her or the others. His eyes were fixed solely on Harry.

"I thought you would come and rescue your friend..." he said in rough, haggard voice. "Your father would have done the same for me. Thank you for not getting a teacher. This makes everything much easier for me."

Hope felt Harry go rigid at her side and she remembered what Harry had told her. This was the man who had betrayed his parents to Voldemort and was the reason they were dead. One look at the livid hatred on Harry's face and one would've thought _he_ was the unactivated wolf in the room. He took a step forward, fists clenched and Hope grabbed him to hold him back just as Ron and Hermione did the same. A pained moan escaped Ron due to the strain he was putting on his broken leg.

"Ron, sit down," Hope hissed, still holding Harry.

"Harry, don't!" Hermione pleaded.

"If you're going to kill Harry then you're going to have to kill us too," Ron hissed through the pain.

"You should listen to the girl," Black said to Ron. "You'll only injury that leg more."

"Didn't you hear me?" Ron grunted out. "If you want him you'll have to come through us!"

"There's only going to be one kill here tonight," Black said with a twisted smile.

"If I can get the wands away from him, I can take him..." Hope said to the group. She'd fought Millicent one on one. This skinny asshole would be quick work.

"Hope, no..." Hermione hissed.

"And why's there only going to be one?" Harry hissed at Black, fueled by wrath. He struggled hard against his friends' grips. "You had no problem killing all those muggles to get at Pettigrew! Azkaban make you soft?"

"Harry, no!" Hermione whispered. "Be quiet!"

"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!"

Twisting wildly he broke free from their grips though a pair of hands tried to yank him back. He gave a hard elbow to the side of the person trying to keep him from his revenge. Over the blood roaring in his ears he heard Hope's squeal of pain as he launched himself at Black, tackling him to the dusty floor. He gripped the shrunken wrist of Black's wand hand just as the man tried to raise the wands in defense. With his other hand he punched any part of Black that he could reach.

Hermione was screaming. Ron and Hope were yelling. The wands in Black's hand shot out sparks that nearly caught Harry in the face. Harry paid no heed, wanting to cause Black as much pain as possible.

Black's free hand closed hard around Harry's throat.

"I've waited too long for this..." Black hissed.

The fingers tightened and Harry choked, reaching up to try and pry the fingers off.

Hermione's foot swung and Black grunted with pain, letting go of Harry. The man turned to the new attackers only to get a vicious right hook from Hope, sending him sprawling. Ron threw himself onto Black's wand hand and there was a clatter. Harry leaped to grab his wand-

"Argh!"

Crookshanks had jumped in, digging both sets of claws into Harry's arm. Harry swung his arm, flinging the cat off though now Crookshanks darted toward Harry's wand.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!"

Harry aimed a kick at the cat and Crookshanks leaped aside, spitting. Harry snatched up his wand. "Get out of the way!" he shouted at the others.

The three all scrambled away from Black. Hope didn't have a scratch on her though her ponytail was mussed. Hermione stood, her lip bleeding as she gasped for breath. She grabbed up the rest of the wands, handing Hope hers as Ron crawled to the bed, Hope helping him. His face was pale but tinged with green as he clutched his leg with both hands.

Black was sprawled on the floor, a bruise blackening his eye, his nose bleeding and his chest rising and falling rapidly as he watched Harry walking toward him slowly. Harry's wand was aimed straight at Black's heart.

"You killed my parents," Harry said, voice slightly shaking as he stood over Black.

"I don't deny it," the man said very quietly as he stared up at Harry through his sunken eyes. "But, if you knew the whole story..."

"The whole story?!" Harry growled, nearly seeing red. "You sold them out! That's all I need to know!"

"You have to listen to me," Black said, a note of urgency in his voice. "You don't understand..."

"I understand perfectly!" Harry said, voice shaking as it all came back to him. Everything that the dementors forced him to hear. "You never heard her, did you!? You never heard my mum trying to stop Voldemort from killing me... And it was you who did it... _You sent him!_"

At that moment Crookshanks leaped forward onto Black's chest as if to shield him. Black tried to move the cat but Crookshanks sank his claws into the man's robes and turned to regard Harry with his great, yellow eyes.

Hermione let out a dry sob and Hope grasped her wrist. The girl buried her bushy head into Hope's shoulder but didn't peel her eyes away. Hope had a sinking feeling the girl was about to watch her best friend kill her pet.

Harry stared down at the cat and criminal, tightening his grip on his wand. If he had to kill the cat he would. He'd buy Hermione a new one. One that wasn't friends with a traitorous murderer. It wasn't his problem that it wanted to die to protect the man that killed his parents. And if Black wanted to save him, then that only proved that the bastard cared more about the cat than Harry's family.

His wand raised. He was going to do it. He was going to avenge his mother and father. He was going to kill Black. This was his chance...

The seconds dragged on like years. And Harry stood frozen, wand still poised. Black stared up at him, Crookshanks on his chest. Ron's shallow breathing filled the room. Hermione was quite silent.

He didn't notice Hope's head raise and turn toward the door, brow furrowed in confusion before relief flooded her face.

Right then there was a new sound.

Muffled footsteps were echoing up through the floor. Someone was downstairs

"PROFESSOR LUPIN!" Hope screamed. She didn't see the incredulous look Ron gave her.

"WE'RE UP HERE! SIRIUS BLACK IS UP HERE! QUICK!" Hermione called as well.

Black jumped so hard that Crookshanks nearly let go. Harry gripped his wand convulsively, brain barely registering how Hope knew who it was. He had to do it now, before Lupin or whoever it was came in. But they were getting closer and Harry still hadn't done it.

The door burst open in a shower of red sparks and Harry whirled around as Professor Lupin came bounding into the room, pale faced and wand at the ready. His eyes scanned the room, to Ron lying on the bed. To Hermione who had let go of Hope and was now in the corner near the door. To Hope who had a look of utter relief on her face. To Harry standing with his wand pointed at Black, and then to Black, bleeding at Harry's feet.

"Expelliarmus!" Lupin shouted.

Harry's wand flew out of his hand, as did Hope's and the two Hermione held. Lupin caught them all deftly, then moved into the room. He stared hard at Black who still had Crookshanks nestled protectively on his chest.

Harry didn't move though he felt hallow. He hadn't been able to do it. He hadn't avenged his parents because he lost his nerve. Black was going to be handed over to the dementors.

Lupin then spoke, voice wavering a bit. "Where is he, Sirius?"

Everyone looked at Lupin in confusion. Who was Lupin talking about? They all turned to Black who slowly raised his bony hand and pointed at Ron.

"What?" Ron asked bewildered. The girls were both looking quite lost as well.

"But then... why hasn't he shown himself before now?" Lupin muttered, staring hard at Black.

"What the Hell is he talking about?" Hope quietly directed to Hermione who shook her head helplessly.

"...unless..." Lupin continued, paying no mind to the confused teenagers. His eyes then widened to their full limits. "_He_ was the one... You switched... without telling me?"

Very slowly Black nodded.

"Professor," Harry demanded loudly, fed up with the vagueness. "What's going on-"

However he never got to finish. What happened next had his voice dying like a candle flame. Lupin lowered his wand, his gazed unwavering on Black. The man walked to Black, grasped his arm and pulled him too his feet, making Crookshanks topple off, and then he embraced Black like a brother.

Harry's world stopped and he nearly fell from the shock of it.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Hermione shrieked.

"PROFESSOR, WHAT THE HELL!?" Hope yelled, forgetting all sense of propriety.

Lupin released Black and turned to the girls. Hope had a look of confusion and betrayal as did Ron and Harry though Hermione was pointing at Lupin, eyes crazed and face pale.

"YOU...YOU!"

"Hermione-"

"YOU AND HIM!?"

"Hermione, calm down-"

"I didn't tell anyone! I've been covering up for you!"

Hope glanced in confusion at the other girl but didn't say anything. She looked to Harry whose face was rapidly changing from fear to fury.

"I trusted you!" The boy yelled, voice quavering. "And you've been his friend, all this time!"

"I haven't been his friend," Lupin said "But, I am now... Let me explain."

"NO! Harry, don't trust him!" Hermione shrieked. "He's been helping Black get into the castle! He wants you dead too! _HE'S A WEREWOLF!"_

It was as if someone yanked a rug from under Hope's feet. A werewolf!? Professor Lupin!? While everyone waited for him to speak she knew it was true now that the words were out there. That's why she was able to sense him! And all this time... He was...

"I won't deny that I'm a werewolf," Lupin said calmly though he was quite pale.

"I trusted you..." Hope whispered, this betrayal worse than anything else she had experienced today. She looked up to this man. Respected him. It turned out he was one of her kind and he had been helping that..._ filth_ get into the castle. "You helped him get into the castle! He nearly killed Lavender! MY BEST FRIEND!"

"He didn't mean to harm Lavender. Hope, calm down-" Lupin didn't look nearly as calm as he did when he tried to calm Hermione.

Hope let out banshee like shriek and rushed forward. Though, unlike when Harry attacked Black, Lupin appeared to be anticipating an attack. She swung her fist but he easily caught it and wrenched her arm behind her back. She growled and elbowed him hard in the face with her free arm. The man wheezed and let her go. She whirled around,

Sirius made a move but Lupin rose, holding up a hand to stay him. "Stay out of it, Sirius." He then grabbed his wand and stood, he and Hope circling each other.

If this was what he wanted, fine. Hope felt that same grim satisfaction rise in her gut that she felt that day with Millicent. So what if she killed him? And Sirius too? So what if she turned?

She sprung.

While Harry wanted nothing more than to watch Hope pummel him, he couldn't stand by and let a girl go up against a grown man by herself, even if she was rather formidable. Hope had sprung at the man and Lupin dodged her easily enough and she went careening into the bed, falling on Ron's broken leg. Ron screamed in pain and Lupin yanked her off of the boy, just as Harry charged forward. Lupin spun, yelling "Protego!" and Harry bounced off of an invisible shield, falling to the floor. He sprang to his feet and watched furiously as Lupin forced Hope to sit on the bed, conjuring cords to bind her hands and feet. Her eyes were wide and she shook with fury as Lupin grabbed her chin and forced her to look into his eyes.

"Calm yourself, Hope. Look at me! You. Don't. Want. _It." _He said in a low, urgent, frantic voice.

Hope's eyes were furiously wild as she took sharp breaths through her mouth. The oxygen to her brain returned her to reason. Her face slowly released its rabid expression and she let out a shaky breath. For a moment it looked like she was going to cry but instead she only yanked her shoulders from his grasp and turned away from him.

Ron made an effort to get up again but the fresh wave of pain from Hope falling onto him was too much and he whimpered. The sound had Hope turning as best she could, an apology on her lips and Lupin moved toward him, looking concerned but Ron recoiled as the man drew near.

"_Don't touch me, werewolf!"_

Lupin froze and Hope's eyes widened. The man then turned back to Hermione who had watched the entire scene with wide, frightened eyes.

"How long have you known?" he asked her.

"First... untie her. I don't think she's going to attack you anymore..." Hermione said quietly.

Lupin nodded graciously and flicked his wand at Hope's restraints and they disappeared. Hope then scrambled from the bed but stood far away from anyone in the room, taking a spot in the far corner.

"They sure are rabid when they're green..." Black muttered as he watched Hope warily.

"Sirius..." Lupin said warningly.

"Thought they were all gone..."

"Sirius!"

Black fell silent and Lupin turned to Hermione again who was watching Hope as well. "How long have you known?"

Hermione turned back to him. "Ages... since Professor Snape's essay..."

Lupin sighed "Of course; he assigned the essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms meant. Did you check the lunar chart and realize I was sick at the time of the full moon? Or did you realize the boggart was the moon when it saw me."

"Both."

"You really are the cleverest witch of your age," Lupin said with a small laugh.

"No, if I knew any better I would've told everyone what you are!" Hermione shrieked.

Hope's head whipped to her, blue eyes narrowing.

"They already know," Lupin said easily. "At least, the staff do."

"What's Dumbledore thinking?!" Ron demanded. "Hiring a werewolf?! Is he mad!?"

"Shut the fuck up, Ron!" Hope snapped, startling the group.

"What's your problem?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Hope," Lupin said gently.

"Don't talk to me, traitor!" she growled at Lupin who sighed and turned back to Hermione to finish his explanation.

"Some of the staff did think Dumbledore was mad to hire me. He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy-"

"AND HE WAS WRONG!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!" He was pointing at Black who made his way to the bed and sank on it, his face hiding in a shaking hand. Ron rolled off the bed to the floor, crying out when he jarred his leg. Hope crossed her arms and turned her head away, unsympathetic.

"I have not been helping Sirius," Lupin said. "Just let me explain..." he then separated the four wands and returned three of them, pocketing Hope's as he tossed the others to their owners. Stunned, Harry caught his wand.

"There, you're armed and we're not," he then took Hope's wand and tossed it to Hermione before turning to an outraged Hope. "That was for your own good."

"I don't remember saying you could talk to me," Hope said snappishly though she relaxed a bit now that the others had wands and not the bad guys.

"If you haven't been helping him, how did you know he was here?" Harry asked

"The Marauder's Map. I was examining it in my office-"

Hope's brow furrowed. Hadn't she heard Ron and Hermione arguing about a map?

"You know how to work it?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Of course, I helped write it. I'm Moony. That was my friends' nickname for me in school."

"You _wrote-"_

"The point is I was watching it carefully tonight. I had an idea that you, Ron and Hermione would sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his hippogriff's execution. And I was right, though I was surprised when I saw a fourth with you," he said with a nod towards Hope before continuing. "You may have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry-"

"How do you know about the-"

"I've seen James disappearing under it more times than I can count," Lupin said impatiently "The point is that even under the Cloak, you can't conceal yourself from the map. I saw you all cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later you left Hagrid and set off toward the castle, though you were in the company of someone else."

"What?!" Harry gasped. "No, we weren't!"

Lupin was pacing now and ignoring Harry's interruption "I thought the Map had to be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"

"No one was with us!" Harry insisted and turned to the rest of the room. "There wasn't anyone with us!"

"And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, labeled Sirius Black... I saw him collide with you, then Hope. I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow."

"One of us!" Ron yelled angrily.

Now he made his way to Ron. "Do you think I could have a look at that rat?"

Ron drew back, startled. "What's Scabbers got to do with anything?" He placed a hand protectively over his pocket.

"He has _everything_ to do with it. Could I see him please?" Lupin asked.

Ron hesitated for a moment then pulled the rat from his pocket. Scabbers thrashed wildly, nearly escaping a couple of times. Crookshanks hissed softly.

Lupin moved closer to Ron, holding his breath as he gazed at the rat.

"What does my rat have to do with anything!?" Ron demanded.

"He's not a rat," Sirius Black croaked suddenly.

"Of course he is!" Ron yelled.

"No, he's not. He's a wizard." Lupin said gravely. "An Animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

All of the teens turned to the Professor at that. There was a silence which was broken by a loud scoff.

"You're so full of crap!" Hope yelled.

"Pettigrew's dead!" Harry yelled also. "Black killed him twelve years ago!"

"I meant to," Black growled as he eyed the rat hungrily and then sprang so fast that Crookshanks fell from him but Lupin caught the other man around the waist.

"Sirius, NO!" he forced Black to sit on the bed. "They need to understand! You can't just do it like that! We have to explain-"

"WE CAN EXPLAIN LATER!" Black roared as he tried to get past Lupin, clawing the air to reach Scabbers. He looked more rabid than Hope had. The rat squealed as he tried to escape Ron's grip, biting and scratching the boy's face and neck in his dash to freedom.

"They have a right to know everything!" Lupin panted as he restrained Black. "Ron kept him as a pet! There are things I don't even understand! And Harry has a right to know! You owe Harry the truth!"

Black stopped struggling and sat down but kept his eyes on the rat. "Fine, Remus. But, tell it quick. I want to commit the murder I was sent to prison for."

Lupin nodded and turned back to the group. "Everyone thought that Sirius killed Peter. So had I, until I saw the map tonight. The Marauder's Map never lies... Peter's alive. Ron's holding him right now, Harry."

Harry, Ron and Hope all looked at him as if he was a complete and utter nut. There was no way that the rat was Peter! Had Azkaban drove Black crazy? Was Lupin playing along with him?

"But, Professor..." Hermione began in a voice of false calm. "He can't be an Animagus. The Ministry of Magic keeps a register of all Animagi and counting Professor McGonagall there have only been seven this past century and Peter's name wasn't on the list."

While Hope wasn't sure if she bought into this madness, she needed an outlet for the inner turmoil of actually wanting to kill someone... That she _wanted_ the change. She shook her head and focused on the matter at hand. "Hermione, just because people are supposed to register as Animagi doesn't mean that they'd all do it."

"But, it's illegal-"

"So's all kinds of shit. Does that stop people?" Hope scoffed. "How many muggles are out driving without a license? Hooking up illegal cable and hacking into their neighbors' internet? Tell me the last time _you _bought a song instead of ripping it from YouTube. Don't worry, I'll wait."

Hermione flushed, Hope's brows rose triumphantly and Harry was just about to snap at them to stop acting like idiots when Lupin cut in with a laugh. "Right you are, the both of you." Lupin said. "Witches and wizards are supposed to register with the Ministry. However, the Ministry was also unaware that Hogwarts also had three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts."

"Hurry up and tell the story, Remus," Black snarled, staring hard at Scabbers.

Honestly, Hope was hoping he would hurry up and tell the story. All of the vagueness and grand pauses were irking her nerves. She made an impatient huffing sound but said nothing.

"All right, but you'll have to help me, Sirius. I only know the beginning."

A loud creak sounded behind Lupin, causing the man to whirl around. The bedroom door had opened on its own then shut. All six of the them stared, breath held. Then Lupin looked out onto the landing.

"No one there..."

"This place is haunted!" Ron exclaimed.

"No, it isn't," Lupin began. "The Shrieking Shack was never haunted. The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me."

He pushed his graying hair out of his eyes and sighed. "This is where it begins, my transformation into a werewolf."

Now Hope straightened up, eyes fixed on the man. She was still livid with him, his betrayal stinging the worst but she had never met a bitten wolf and wanted to know what had happened to him. Besides, it was a good distraction...

He told a tale of how he was a very small boy when he received the bite and there was no cure for the lycanthropy virus. The potion that Snape mixed for him, the one Harry and Hope had seen Snape bring him on Halloween, was a recent discovery.

"It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform. I'm able to curl up in my office as a harmless wolf and wait for the moon to wane again. But, before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, I became a literal monster. All hopes of me attending school seemed to fly out of the window. Other parents would not want me around their children."

He then began the tale of how Dumbledore became headmaster and he took precautions to allow Lupin in school and Hope felt her respect for the headmaster grow. The Whomping Willow had been planted in front of the passageway that led to the shack from the school grounds and every month, Lupin was to be smuggled to this house. The tree was to stop anyone from discovering him while he was dangerous.

Harry had no clue why this was important but he paid rapt attention as did the other teens, the only sounds were Scabbers' frantic squeaks.

"My transformations were terrible... In those days, it was very painful to turn into a werewolf," he looked around the room and for a moment his eyes lingered on Hope's and the girl averted them. He then continued. "I was placed away from humans to bite so I bit and scratched myself. The villagers heard the screams and thought it was the work of violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumors and even now, after the house has been silent for years, people still won't come near it."

"Aside from my transformations, it was the best time of my life. I had three great friends: Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and your father, Harry. James Potter. They didn't fail to notice that I would disappear once a month. I made up all sort of lies, such as my mother being ill and I had to visit her. I was terrified that they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But, they eventually worked it out. And they didn't desert me."

Hope's mind flicked to when she first revealed to Parvati what she was and the girl's acceptance, her willingness do anything to keep Hope from turning. And then the awful things Hope said to her earlier that day and her stomach twisted guiltily.

"My friends," Lupin continued, unaware of Hope's inner turmoil, "did something that made my transformations not only bearable but the best times of my life. They became Animagi."

"My dad too?" Harry asked in astonishment.

"Yes. It took them the better part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius were the cleverest students in the school. And it was a good thing too, as Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong which is one of the reasons the Ministry keeps tabs on those who attempt to do it. Peter needed all the help from Sirius and James that he could get. And in our fifth year they finally got it and could turn into a different animal at will."

"How did that help?" Hope asked, unable to stop herself.

"They couldn't keep me company as humans," Lupin explained "so they did so as animals. A werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James's Invisibility Cloak. They transformed. Peter was the smallest so he could crawl through the branches to the knot at the base of the Willow. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their influence I was less dangerous. I was still a wolf physically but my mind was less so while I was with them."

"Will you hurry up?" Black snarled, still looking at Scabbers with a sort of hunger.

"I'm getting there," Lupin said before continuing "Now that we could all transform we were soon leaving the Shack and exploring the grounds of the school and the village by night. Sirius and James transformed into such large animals that they were able to keep a werewolf in check. I'm quite certain that no other Hogwarts students found out more about the school and Hogsmeade as we did which is how we came to create the Marauder's Map and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot, Peter is Wormtail, James was Prongs."

"What sort of animal did-" Harry began but Hermione cut him off.

"But that was really dangerous! What if you had given them the slip and hurt someone?"

"A thought that still haunts me," Lupin said "And there were near misses but we laughed about them then. We were young and thoughtless, enraptured by our own cleverness. I felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust. He had admitted me when no other headmaster would have dared and he had no idea that I was breaking the rules he had set down for my, and others' safety. He never knew my friends had become Animagi because of me. But I always managed to cover up my guilty feelings each time we sat down to plan next month's adventure. And I haven't changed... All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius is an Animagus. But, I didn't. I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others with me after he allowed me to attend school and gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. So, I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school with dark magic, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it... in a way, Snape's been right about me."

"Snape?" Black finally looked away from Scabbers. "What's Snivellus got to do with anything?"

Hope's lips twitched at the name though she quickly schooled her face. She was becoming too relaxed, listening to the story.

"He's here," Lupin told Black. "He's teaching here." He then turned to the teens. "Professor Snape was at the school with us. He fought hard to keep me from becoming the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He had been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. You see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him; a trick which involved me"

Black scoffed. "Served the little pimple right," he sneered. "Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to just because he didn't have a life. Trying to get us expelled."

"Severus was very interested in where I went each month," Lupin explained. "We were in the same year and we... didn't like each other much. He especially disliked James. He was jealous of James's talent on the Quidditch field... Well, one day, Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey as she led me toward the Whomping Willow. Sirius thought it would be... amusing to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the base of the tree with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. He tried it and if had gotten as far as this house he would have met a fully grown werewolf. But, Harry, your father pulled him back, at great risk to his life. Snape saw me at the end of the tunnel and was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anyone but from then on he knew what I was."

"So, that's why Snape doesn't like you?" Harry asked slowly "Because he thought you were in on the joke.?"

"That's right," a cold voice sneered from the wall behind Lupin.

Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, wand pointed at Lupin.

Hermione screamed. Hope jumped from the corner. Black leaped to his feet. Harry stumbled back, feeling as though he had been struck by lightning.

"I found this at the base of the Willow," Snape said as he tossed the cloak aside, keeping his wand pointed at Lupin. "Very useful, Potter... I thank you."

Snape seemed a bit out of breath but his face was triumphant. "I had just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took you a gobletful along. And what do I come across in your office? A certain map showing me you; running along this passageway and out of sight."

"Severus," Lupin began, but Snape cut him off.

"I told the headmaster time and again that you are helping your old friend, Black, into the castle. Now I have proof. Not that I would have dreamed you would use this old place as your hideout."

"Still a fucking moron..." Black grumbled under his breath but stopped with a sharp look from Lupin.

"Severus, you haven't heard everything," Lupin said, trying to reason with the other man. "Sirius isn't here to kill Harry-"

"Two for Azkaban tonight... I wonder how Dumbledore will react to this. He was so adamant about you being a tame wolf..." Snape's eyes glinted maliciously.

Lupin opened his mouth to say something but there was a loud BANG and thin cords wrapped themselves around Lupin's mouth, wrists and ankles. He lost his balance and fell hard on the floor. Sirius rushed toward Snape who pointed his wand right at his face.

"Give me a reason," he said lowly "I'm begging you to..."

Black froze, face livid with hatred, same as Snape's. Harry was at a loss. He didn't know which one to believe. He looked to the others. Ron seemed at a loss, though Hope looked as if she were more inclined to believe Lupin though she wasn't sure about Black yet. Hermione took an uncertain step toward Snape. "Professor... it wouldn't hurt to listen to what they have to say..."

"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school. You, Potter, Weasley and Mitchell are out of bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold _your tongue."_

Hope's fists clenched at her sides and she took a step forward but Hermione stopped her by speaking.

"But if... what if there was a mistake-"

"SHUT UP, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted and Hermione shrank back. The man looked quite deranged. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Sparks shot from the ends of his wand which was still pointed at Black's face.

"Fine..." Black spat "If for no other reason than to shut you up, I'll come quietly to the castle, as long as the boy brings his rat-"

"To the castle?" Snape gave a deadly smirk. "Oh, we won't need to go that far. We'll only need get to the Willow's exit. From there, I'll call the dementors... And they'll be so happy to see you, they just may _kiss_ you."

Black's face went deathly pale and the others felt their stomachs drop at Snape's words.

"Listen..." Black began desperately "The rat... look at the rat... Just hear me out..."

Snape wasn't listening. There was a manic look on his face that was near orgasmic. Harry had never seen him this far gone before.

"Come on, all of you," Snape barked out and snapped his fingers. The ends of the ropes binding Lupin flew to his hands and he took sadistic joy in yanking hard, jerking Lupin across the floor. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the dementors will have a kiss for him as well-"

Hope made a move to defend Lupin at those words but was beat to the punch by Harry who had crossed over and blocked the door.

"Get out of the way, Potter. You're in enough trouble as it is," the Potions master snarled "If I hadn't been here to save your neck-"

"Professor Lupin could've killed me about a hundred times this year! I've been alone with him loads of times for defensive lessons against dementors! If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish me off then?"

"Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works," Snape hissed.

As Harry and Snape went back and forth, Hope inched toward Lupin, unsure if she should trust him. Still, Harry's words did make sense. She reached forward and undid the gag around his mouth and nose so he could breathe.

"Thank you," he said genuinely.

"Don't thank me, I just want to hear the rest of the story," she said as she pulled him to a sitting position on the bed.

Snape, who had been arguing with Harry noticed what she had done.

"GET BACK, YOU STUPID GIRL!" He had his wand aimed at her now as she was covering Lupin. "Move, or I WILL MAKE YOU MOVE!"

"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Harry yelled. "YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE AN IDIOT OF YOU AT SCHOOL!"

"DON'T YOU _DARE _TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieked, becoming even more unhinged. "Like father, like son! You're such an arrogant idiot that you would have been well served if he'd killed you, just as a last lesson!" He then then whirled on Hope. "And as for you, stupid girl, get away from the werewolf, now!"

"Make me!" Hope snarled, guarding Lupin. "Harry's right, you are a pathetic! A grown man is going to kill someone just because of some crap from school? You're such a little girl!"

"You insufferable little cow!" Snape roared and took a menacing step forward. "Move, now! Or I'll make you move!"

Hope stood her ground though she was still wandless, ready to spring at the man if need be. However she was spared that when Harry cried out "Expelliarmus!" along with two other voices.

There was a blast that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then he slid down to the floor with a trickle of blood oozing from his hair.

Harry looked around and saw Hermione and Ron had tried to disarm him Snape at the same moment.

"You should have left him to me, Harry.." Black said and Harry avoided his eyes, unsure he had done the right thing.

"Oh no... we attacked a teacher... We're going to be in so much trouble!" Hermione moaned as she stared at Snape's limp form.

"Are you kidding? He had that coming for three years!" Hope cried, a little miffed she couldn't blast Snape as well.

Sirius made his way over to unbind Lupin and she skittered away uneasily. If Black was bothered by her fear of him, he didn't show it. He unbound Lupin and the other man stood, rubbing his arms where the ropes had cut into them.

"Thank you, Harry. Thank you, Hope."

"I'm not saying I believe you," Harry said to Lupin, eyeing him warily.

"Then it's time we offered you proof," Lupin then turn to Ron, "Ron, give me Peter, please. Now."

"You're saying that he broke out of Azkaban just to get Scabbers?" Ron said weakly, looking to the other teens for support. "So what if Pettigrew turned into a rat, it doesn't mean anything! There's millions of rats, so how's Black going to know which one to look for if he was locked up?"

Lupin paused. "Sirius, the boy has a point. How did you find out where he was?"

Black's only answer was to reach into his robes and pull out a crumpled piece of paper which he then smoothed out and held up to show the group.

It was the picture of Ron and his family that appeared in the _Daily Prophet_ last summer, and there on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers. Hope had seen that picture. Ginny had excitedly shown her during their first week back and Fred had proudly shown it to her during their first week of dating.

"How did you get this?" Lupin asked Black, astonished.

"Fudge... When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page, on this boy's shoulder. I knew him at once. How often had I seen him transform? The paper said the boy was going back to Hogwarts... where Harry was..."

Lupin was now staring at the paper, then back to Scabbers, then back to the paper. "His front paw..."

"So what?" Ron yelled.

"He's got a toe missing... So brilliant yet simple... He cut it off himself?"

"Just before he turned," Black said. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself and sped down into the sewer with the other rats..."

"The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger," Lupin told Ron "Have you ever heard that?"

"So!" the boy retorted "He probably got in a fight with another rat! He's been in my family for ages!"

"Twelve years, in fact," Lupin said. "Didn't you ever wonder why he lived so long?"

Ron struggled for an answer and Hope straightened at that. In one of the textbooks Aunt Bex forced her to read, she did read about rodents. Her muggle grade school in Chicago also had a rat as the school pet. It had been there since she was five and died when she was ten. The teacher who cared for the rat told her that it had a good long life for a rat. Twelve years was a stretch in dog years, but for a rat, that was outrageous.

She glanced at the others to see their reactions. Harry looked like he was considering it but not sure what to think while Hermione appeared to slowly believe what Lupin was saying against her better judgment. Ron was adamant in his stance though he was quickly losing ground.

"We've been taking good care of him," Ron finally said.

"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" Lupin said as he took in the rat's thin appearance and missing patches of fur. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again..."

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" Ron cried, pointing at Crookshanks who was still purring.

Harry's mind latched onto something. Scabbers had been looking sick before he ever met Crookshanks... ever since Ron's return from Egypt... since the time when Black escaped...

"This cat isn't mad," Black said, interrupting Harry's thoughts. He reached out a hand to pet the cat. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I'd ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. He met me and knew I was no dog..."

Hope's stomach dropped at those words, remembering her shopping trip in Diagon Alley. She had met Ron, Harry and Hermione and she had that cat... and it wouldn't stop narrowing its eyes at her. So many times Hope caught that cat just staring at her... Did it know what she was as well?

"It was a while before he trusted me," Black continued "but I was finally able to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me..."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked in shock.

"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't. So, he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me. Apparently he took them from a boy's bedside table..."

Harry's eyes grew wider at what he was hearing. It was impossible but too many things were piecing themselves together...

"This cat... Crookshanks, did you call him?... told me Peter had left blood on the sheets. I supposed he bit himself. Well, faking his own death had worked once..."

At that Harry came back to reality.

"And why did he fake his death?" he asked furiously. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"

"No, Harry..." Lupin began.

"And now you've come to finish him off!"

"Yes, I have," Black said, looking at Scabbers with murderous glee.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!"

"Harry," Lupin said "Listen. Don't you understand? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down when it was the other way around! Peter betrayed your mother and father... Sirius tracked Peter down-"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Harry yelled, recalling what he had heard that snowy day in Hogsmeade "HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE KILLED THEM!"

He was pointing at Black, who shook his head slowly.

"Harry... I as good as killed them. I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me... It is my fault, I know it... The night they died, I had arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe. But, when I arrived at his safe house, he had gone. Yet, there were no signs of struggle. It didn't seem right. I was scared and went to your parents' house right away... And when I saw their home destroyed, and their bodies... I realized what Peter must've done... what I'd done..."

His voice cracked and he turned away.

Harry swallowed, not knowing what to believe.

"Enough of this," Lupin said and there was a steel in his voice none of them had heard before. "There is one way to prove what happened. Ron, _give me that rat." _His voice held no room for argument.

"What are you going to do to him?" Ron asked, a whimper in his voice.

"Force him to reveal himself. If he truly is a rat, it won't hurt him."

Ron hesitated for a long moment then at last, he handed Lupin the rat. Scabbers began to squeak and thrash without stopping.

"Ready, Sirius?" Lupin asked but Black had already grabbed Snape's wand.

"Together?"

"I think so..." Lupin and Black raised the wands simultaneously. "one... two... three..."

A flash of blue-white light shot from both wands. Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small form twisting. Ron yelled, horrified as the rat fell and hit the floor. There was another flash and then...

It was like watching a film on fast-forward. A head was shooting upward from the ground, limbs were sprouting, and soon a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands. Crookshanks was spitting and snarling, the hair on his back was standing up.

The man was short, not much taller than the teens.. His hair was unkempt and there was a bald patch on top. He had the appearance of a plump man who had lost a lot of weight in a small amount of time. His skin was grayish and grubby and he had beady, rat-like eyes and a small, pointed nose. He looked around at them all, breathing hard and shallow. His eyes darted to the door and back.

"Well, hello, Peter," Lupin said pleasantly, as though this sort of thing was a normal Friday. "Long time, no see..."

Hope's mouth had dropped and she exchanged a shocked look with Hermione. Ron was clearly at a loss for words and revulsion was evident in his expression. Harry had backed away, too shocked to even think.

"Remus... S-Sirius..." Pettigrew's voice was squeaky as his eyes darted to the door. "My friends... my old friends..."

Black's wand arm rose but Lupin stopped him and gave him a warning look. He then turned to the former rat.

"So, we've been having a little chat... About what happened that night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking on the bed..."

"Remus..." Pettigrew gasped as he broke into a sweat. "...You don't believe him, do you? He tried to kill me, Remus..."

"Yes, I've heard," Remus said coldly "And I'd like to clear a few things up, Peter-"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Peter cried, pointing at Black and the group saw that he used his middle finger because his index finger was missing. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too... You've got to help me, Remus..."

"No one's going to try to kill you until we've sorted a few things out," Lupin said.

"Sorted things out! I knew he'd try to kill me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for a dozen years!"

"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban when no one has ever done so?" Lupin asked disbelievingly.

"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Pettigrew shouted shrilly. "How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him tricks!"

"Voldemort? Teach me tricks?" Black hissed. Pettigrew flinched, shrinking back. Black smirked coldly. "Oh, I bet you would be afraid to hear your old master's name... His lot aren't too happy with you, I'd gather..."

"Don't know what... you're talking about, Sirius..." Pettigrew gasped, his breathing coming faster.

"As if you had been hiding from _me_ from twelve years," Black hissed. "You've been hiding from _him_ for twelve years as well as his supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter... They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them. They all think the double crosser double crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information. That's where _he_ met his downfall. And yet, not all of his supporters ended up in prison, did they? There are still plenty of them out there, biding their time, pretending they'd seen the error of their ways... If they ever got wind that you were still alive..."

"You don't believe this, surely, Remus..." Pettigrew pleaded.

"I am finding trouble believing why an innocent man would spend twelve years as a rat," Lupin said.

"Innocent, but scared! If Voldemort's supporters were after me it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban!" Pettigrew declared, pointing at Black.

Hope, who still watched silently, blinked at a sudden memory. Herself giving Harry a reading after Black's first attack. Harry had been shuffling when a card flipped out just as Ron had entered with Scabbers on his shoulder.

The Seven of Swords. The card of liars, sneaks, thieves and tricksters.

However she said nothing and sat back to listen.

"And yet," Black began, his voice a growl "I was never the one who lurked around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself. No, that was you, Peter. Why I never saw it before, I'll never know. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... me and Remus... and James..." lack took a deep breath, face still contorted with rage. "Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it! I thought it was the perfect bluff. Voldemort would never suspect a weak, talentless thing like you... And I bet it was the best moment of your worthless life, wasn't it? Going right up to him and delivering the Potters on a silver platter?"

Peter was muttering things like "lunacy" and "preposterous" though he grew more pale and kept looking at the door as well as the windows.

Professor Lupin..." Hermione asked timidly "Can I ask a question?"

"Certainly, Hermione."

"This... this man has been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years? Why hasn't he tried to hurt Harry if he really is working for You-Know-Who?"

"There!" Pettigrew said before anyone could answer. "Thank you! I've never hurt a hair on Harry's head. Why would I?"

"Because, Peter, you've never done a thing for anyone if you couldn't see what was in it for you," Black said coldly. "Voldemort had been in hiding for years. Some say he's half dead or powerless. You weren't about to kill a child under Albus Dumbledore's nose for a wreck of a wizard. You had to make certain he was still the biggest bully in the sandbox, didn't you? That's why you found a wizard family to take you in, wasn't it? Keeping your ear to the ground for news, Peter? Just in case your old master regained power and it was safe to rejoin him..."

Pettigrew paled even more and he seemed to lose all ability to speak. Hope took a glance at Harry. His expression was growing colder as he eyed the blubbering man.

"Mr. Black... er... Sirius," Hermione said timidly and Black jumped at being addressed in such a way. "May I ask, how did you escape Azkaban if it wasn't with dark magic?"

The man seemed to search for an answer. And after the longest moment, he finally answered. "I'm not sure... I think the only reason I never lost my mind in Azkaban is because I knew I was innocent. It wasn't a happy thought so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me... but it kept me sane and knowing who I am... helped me keep my powers... so when it all became... too much... I could transform in my cell, become a dog. Dementors can't see. They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions... They could tell that my emotions were less complex when I was a dog. They only thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But, I was very weak and had no hope of driving them off without a wand."

"However, I saw Peter in that picture... I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gaining power..."

Pettigrew continued to mutter, shaking his head yet he was staring at Black as though hypnotized.

"... ready to strike at the moment he could be sure he had allies... and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who would dare say he had abandoned their cause. He would be welcomed back with honors. So, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was alive."

Harry's mind, for some reason, flashed to Hope's tarot cards. How they all seemed to point to a big reveal... And an unfair ruling... A sneak in hiding... Someone with information that they did not want to share because they were afraid... He recalled the Moon which showcased a black dog and a wolf...

"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head," Black continued "and the dementors couldn't destroy it. It wasn't a happy feeling, it was obsession... It gave me strength and cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring me food, I slipped past them as a dog. They can't sense animal emotions as well as human..." he then paused and added as an afterthought "or vampire... But, they were confused. I was thin... thin enough to slip through the bars. I swam as a dog to the mainland... journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch match, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry..."

Black looked at Harry, who did not look away.

"Believe me, please... I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them.

Harry could do nothing but believe him. Throat tight with emotion, the boy nodded.

"NO!"

Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as they he were begging not to go to the gallows. He shuffled toward Sirius on his knees, hands clasped.

"Sirius, it's me! Your old friend... you wouldn't..."

Black swung his foot, catching Pettigrew in the chin and the short man cried out as he fell. "There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them."

"Remus..." now Pettigrew shuffled to the DADA professor "You don't believe this... wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," Lupin said and then turned to Black "I assume that's why you didn't tell me?"

"Forgive me, Remus."

"Of course, Padfoot, old friend. And will you forgive me for thinking you were the spy?" Lupin was know rolling up his sleeves.

"Of course," Black said and a grin ghosted his gaunt face. He also rolled his sleeves up. "Shall we kill him together?"

"Yes, I think so," Lupin agreed grimly.

"You wouldn't..." Pettigrew then scrambled to Ron. "Ron... haven't I been a good friend... a good pet? You won't let them kill me, will you... I was a good pet..."

Ron's face twisted in revulsion. "I let you sleep in my _bed!" _His face pale with pain, he wrenched his broken leg from the man's grasp.

Pettigrew, whimpering, then turned to Hermione. "Sweet girl, clever girl..." he seized her ankle. "You won't let them... Help me..."

Hermione let out a revolted squeal and yanked herself away from his grasp. "Don't you touch me!"

Pettigrew, still trembling, turned to Hope and wrapped his hands around her leg. "Dear girl, help me... save me...

Hope lifted her free leg and kicked him away. "If you don't get your gross ass off of me, they won't have time to kill you!"

Petttigrew then turned to Harry. "Harry... you look just like your father... just like him..."

"YOU DARE SPEAK TO HIM!?" Black roared. "HOW DARE YOU EVEN FACE HIM?! HOW DARE YOU EVEN TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?!"

Pettigrew shuffled towards Harry, grasping his leg. "Harry... James wouldn't have wanted me killed..."

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Harry drew his hand back and struck the man across the face and he toppled to the floor. At that moment Black and Lupin seized the whimpering traitor and threw him to the floor.

"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort. Do you deny it?" Black said, shaking with rage.

Now Pettigrew burst into tears and curled into the fetal position. It was revolting to watch.

"Sirius, what could I have done? He was taking over everywhere... I was scared... I never meant it to happen.."

"DON'T LIE!" Black yelled "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR OVER A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"

"W-what was to be gained by refusing him?" Pettigrew gasped.

"What was to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed? Only innocent lives!"

"He would've killed me, Sirius!" Pettigrew sobbed in a whining voice.

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAYED YOUR FRIENDS! DIED AS WE WOULD HAVE FOR YOU!"

The two men pointed their wands at the cowering man.

"You should have realized if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

Hermione gasped, hid her face in her hands and turned to the wall. Ron and Hope refused to look away.

"NO!"

Harry shocked them all by running between the raised wands and Pettigrew. "You can't kill him!"

Black and Lupin both froze.

"Harry, this piece of shit is the reason you have no parents! He would have seen you dead as well! You heard him!" Black growled.

"I know..." Harry said, panting. "We can take him to the castle." He thought of what the dementors would have in store for this traitor and it gave him a grim sense of satisfaction. "We can hand him to the dementors... He can go to Azkaban... if anyone deserves that place, it's him... Besides... I don't reckon my dad would've wanted his best friends to become killers just for..." he gave a contemptuous glance to Pettigrew ".._him._"

"Harry! Oh, Harry! Thank you..." Pettigrew made a move to grab Harry again and the boy kicked out.

"I said don't touch me!"

Black and Lupin looked at each other and then lowered their wands. "Very well," Lupin said "Move aside then, Harry. I'm going to tie him up." This time when cords shot from Lupin's wand it was to bind Pettigrew, as well as gag him.

"But," Black said lowly, "If you try to transform, we _will_ kill you. You agree, Harry?"

Harry made certain Pettigrew could see him as he nodded.

"All right, then" Lupin said and turned to Ron. "I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing." He moved to Ron, tapped his leg and said "_Ferula." _Bandages and a splint appeared around the boy's leg, wrapping it tight. Lupin then helped him to his feet; Ron put his weight gingerly on the leg and didn't wince.

"That's better. Thanks."

_Oh, now he's okay with him being a wolf..._ Hope fought the urge to scoff as she watched the scene. Her blood could have healed Ron's leg, slowly of course, but after witnessing his attitude about werewolves, she felt a touch of self-satisfied spite at the thought of him having to tough it out all the way to the castle. Besides, she wasn't too inclined to show her abilities to this whole group of people. Though one thing was certain. She and Professor Lupin were going to have themselves a long talk once the dust settled.

"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked in a small voice, looking down at the prone figure.

Lupin bent to check the man's pulse. "There's nothing seriously wrong with him. You were just a little...overenthusiastic. Hmm, he's still out cold. Well, it's probably best if we don't revive him until we're safely back in the castle." He pointed his wand and said "Mobilicorpus." It was as if invisible strings fastened themselves to Snape's wrists, knees and waist, yanking him into a standing position. He hung a few inches off the ground, feet dangling limply. Lupin picked up the Invisibility Cloak and pocketed it.

"And two of us should be chained to this," Black nudged Pettigrew with his foot. "Just to make sure."

"I'll do it," said Lupin.

"Me too," Hope said but Ron stopped her.

"No, I'll do it," he said fiercely.

Hope started to protest but Ron would hear none of it. The point became moot when Black conjured heavy manacles that clamped Pettigrew's right arm to Ron's left and his left arm to Lupin's right. Ron's face was set as stone, as though he considered the true identity of Scabbers a personal insult.

Crookshanks leap lightly off the bed and led the way out of the room, his tail held high. Lupin, Pettigrew and Ron then followed. Next came Professor Snape, floating along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand which was pointed at him by Sirius. Harry, Hermione and Hope brought up the rear.

"So... is it always like this for you in June?" Hope asked Harry lightly.

Harry let out a startled, shaky laugh. "Not every June. Technically the madness from last year happened in May."

"Oh, right..."

Harry glanced at her and saw she kept her eyes on Lupin. The revelation that he was a werewolf seemed to shock her the most of all, even more than the fact that Ron's rat was really the man who betrayed Harry's parents or that the man who everyone had been chasing was indeed innocent.

They entered the tunnel, single file. Ron, Pettigrew and Lupin had to turn sideways to do so. Snape drifted ahead, in front of Black who was keeping him aloft with his own wand. His head kept bumping the low ceiling of the tunnel and Harry had a feeling Black wasn't too keen on preventing this.

"Do you know what this means? Turning Pettigrew in?" Black said to Harry abruptly as they made their way through the tunnel, slowly.

"You're free," said Harry.

"Yes... But I'm also... I don't know if anyone ever told you... I'm your godfather."

"Yeah, I knew that," Harry said.

Hope's brows rose. Harry had never told her that tidbit. She glanced at Hermione and it seemed she already knew.

"Well..." Black continued "Your parents appointed me your guardian... if anything were to happen to them."

Harry's eyes widened and he remained silent. Did he really mean...

"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle. But, well... think about it. Once my name's cleared... if you wanted a... a different home..."

An explosion of jubilation took place in Harry's stomach. "I can... You mean..." he could barely speak he was so dizzy with shock and happiness that he accidentally cracked his head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "Leave the Dursleys?"

"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," Black said quickly "I understand, I just thought I'd-"

"Are you insane!" Harry gasped "Of course I want to leave from there! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"

Black whirled around to look at Harry. "You want to? You mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it!" Harry exclaimed.

Black's face broke into a true smile and the difference it made was astonishing.

They continued on, the only sound was their footsteps as well as the scraping Snape's head made against the ceiling.

"Hope, here's your wand back," Hermione said and handed the other girl her wand.

"Thanks." Hope pocketed it and turned her gaze to the unconscious Snape. "Before he wakes up..." Hope said lowly to Hermione, "I want to hit him."

Apparently everyone had heard what she said.

"Hope, no," Lupin called as Sirius let out a bark-like laugh.

"Professor! He called me a skank!" Hope whined. "And everyone else got knock him on his greasy butt!"

Sirius seemed to find this all highly amusing. In lighter spirits, he turned to Hope. "I believe I owe you an apology. Both for accidentally harming your friend as well as frightening you on Halloween."

Hope blinked and recalled that night when she had went to use the bathroom and came across the giant black dog. At that time she had thought it was a death omen...

"Ehh, it's all good..." she gave a one-shouldered shrug. She then recalled something that the man had said when she had been tussling with Lupin. "Erm... Can I ask a question?" she said to him.

"Certainly," Black said as they continued on.

"What did you mean by 'they sure are rabid when they're green'?"

The man gave her a look. "I think you know what I meant... Don't worry, I won't say anything."

Hope paled. So, he knew she was an unactivated wolf. Of course he did. Why else would he follow up his statement with 'I thought they were all gone.' The wizard world thought her kind were extinct. And Lupin clearly knew as well, which was why he tied her up and refused to give her back her wand... He didn't want her to kill. He had told her that she didn't want 'it.'

Harry glanced between Sirius and Hope with keen interest. He figured that whatever they were discussing had to do with what he had witnessed earlier that night when she healed herself.

"Hey, Harry... can we talk later?" she asked, knowing he would know what she meant.

"Sure, if you want..." Harry said and turned to look at her. "But, Hope, whatever it is, you're still my friend either way." Like she could be anything else after the way she helped him tonight.

This proved to be a big relief to the girl and she practically beamed at him. For a moment she looked like she might cry with emotion and seemed at a loss for words. However, she only said "Dude, when you're birthday comes, I'm making you a cake."

Harry gave her a smile. "As long as it's the one we had for your birthday."

"Deal."

They did not speak again until they had reached the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks darted up first to turn off the Whomping Willow Lupin, Pettigrew and Ron clambered upward without any sound of angry branches.

Black levitated Snape up through the hole and stood back for the rest of the teens to pass. All of them were finally out.

The grounds were very dark. The only light came from the windows of the distant castle. Without a word they set off. Pettigrew was wheezing and whimpering but no one cared. Harry's mind was buzzing happily. He was going to leave the Dursleys! He wondered what would happen once he told them he was going to leave with the escaped convict that had haunted the muggle news programs. Maybe he would tape it...

"One wrong move, Peter," said Lupin threateningly. His wand was pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest.

As they crossed grounds, the castle lights grew larger. Snape was still drifting ahead of Black, his chin bumping his chest.

A strong wind picked up and Hope breathed in the night air only to stop when she felt that ever familiar vitriol boil in her stomach. She had no clue why. She looked at the ground instead, focusing on the dim shadows that painted the ground.

Wait. There weren't any shadows before...

She looked up. That strong wind had blown away the clouds and everyone was bathed in moonlight.

Full moonlight.

Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew and Ron, who had came to an abrupt stop. Black froze and held out a hand to stop the other teens.

Lupin had gone rigid; his limbs began to shake. Behind him, Harry heard Hope gasp and Hermione whimper.

"He didn't take his potion..." Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion!"

"Run," Black whispered. "Run, now."

Harry couldn't run. Not when Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. He sprung forward but Black caught him around the chest and threw him back.

"Leave it to me. RUN!"

Baleful snarling filled the air. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting on his face and hands which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks's hair was on end as he backed away. Hope watched as if in a trance.

The werewolf reared, long jaws snapping. Sirius ran forward, shifting from man to canine and pounced just as the wolf yanked itself free of the manacle binding it. The great black dog seized it by the throat and pulled it away from Ron and Pettigrew. Their jaws locked, claws ripping at each other.

Harry stood, just as transfixed as Hope by what he was seeing. They were both too intent on the battle to notice anything else. Hermione's scream brought them back to reality.

Pettigrew had seized Lupin's fallen wand. Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell over. The man pointed the wand at the boy, there was a burst of light and Ron lay motionless on the ground. There was another bang and Crookshanks flew into the air and landed with a sickening thud.

"Expelliarm-"

Too late.

Pettigrew shot a jinx at him. Harry, used to dodging Bludgers, managed to duck but still caught most of it. It caught him in the leg and he flew backward, landing hard on the ground. A searing pain tore his side and he felt the warm trickle of blood. He'd fallen on a particularly sharp rock.

"Expelliarmus!"

Harry forced himself into an upright position just in time to see Hermione disarm Pettigrew. Lupin's wand flew from his grubby hands and out of sight.

Wandless and out of options, Pettigrew had transformed, shrinking through the manacle and scurrying off through the grass and rocks. Hermione took off after the rat. "Lumos Maxima!" she cried, her wand emitting a bright light as she chased after the rat's bald tail and out of sight.

There was a howl and a growl. Harry turned to see the werewolf break into a gallop toward the forest.

"Sirius!" Harry yelled, "Pettigrew's gone! He transformed!"

The bleeding dog sprang to his feet and took off, his paws thundering across the grounds. But, it seemed he had left too soon for the werewolf had returned. The winds had changed, taking the scent of Harry's blood to the wolf's nose.

Paws thundering, jaws snarling, the wolf shot for Harry. The boy tried to get to his feet, wincing against the screaming pain in his side. Harry gripped the bleeding wound and backed away as the wolf slowly stalked forward. Its long, sharp teeth shining in the moonlight.

It sank low, preparing to spring,when Hope shot forward and threw herself in its line of sight.

"_**NOOO!"**_

The word was screamed with such force and authority. Not an ounce of fear. But it wasn't Harry who had shouted.

The wolf stopped, let out a small snarl as its tawny eyes regarded the brunette girl. Her fists were clenched, wandless. Her nostrils were flared, lips pressed into a hard line and blue eyes unblinking. For one terrified moment, Harry thought the wolf would spring and rip her throat out.

But it didn't.

The wolf watched her with its tawny eyes, growling lightly and, to Harry's astonishment, bounded into the forest.

He whirled from the retreating lycanthrope to Hope. The fierce expression slid from her face and she let out a shaky breath of relief, shoulders slumping. Harry could only stare at her in shock. Did she just...? How in the...

Harry took a step toward her and let out a pained cry when the wound at his side made itself known and he couldn't help but fall to his knees. Hope looked up at the sound. "Harry!" She darted forward and sank to her knees next to him. Her fear rushed back and she let out a small scream at the sight of him. He was pale, teeth gritted in obvious pain as he tried to stand. He was clutching his stomach, blood pouring through his fingers.

"What happened?! Did it bite you? Don't move! You'll mess it up even more!"

"No... Pettigrew hit me with a curse" the boy grimaced in pain. "Fell... on a rock..." He pushed her hand away with his free hand. "I'll be fine... Check on Ron..."

"You're not fine, now let me see it," Hope yanked his hand away.

In the pale moonlight Hope could make out the heavily bleeding wound. Without Madam Pomfrey to mend it he would lose a lot of blood, and fast. He might even die... Hope glanced around frantically. Hermione was still gone and Lupin and Sirius had taken off as well. She didn't know if Snape would awaken and Ron was still prone on the ground.

Hope took a deep breath and swallowed. "Harry... Look at me. I need you to trust me, okay?"

Harry's eyes met hers. She seemed to be bracing herself for something.

She took out her wand and pointed it at her wrist "_Diffindo!"_

A horizontal slash appeared across her left wrist and Harry's eyes popped, stomach dropping.

"What're you do-mmph!"

Harry's green eyes squinched in shock and protest as Hope shoved her bleeding wound to his lips, her other hand holding the back of his head to keep him from moving. The metallic taste of blood hit his tongue and his first instinct was to push her away. Then it went down his throat and he felt the pain lessening. Not just in his stomach but the other injuries he had sustained that night. Survival instinct kicked in, overriding logic, and instead of pushing her hand away he pulled it closer; one hand holding her wrist and the other curling around her fingers. A small moan of relief escaped him as his tongue greedily tried to catch whatever drops he could, his body knowing it was the source of his relief.

Hope kept an eye out to see if Hermione or Sirius would return, or if Snape or Ron would awaken. Though, she did risk a glance at Harry. The boy had recoiled at first but was soon eagerly drinking her blood. His fingers wrapped around hers and he had let out a small moan of relief. The gaping wound in his side took a while, and it still wasn't completely healed but it was no longer bleeding profusely. She looked and saw his wounds and scrapes slowly healing and relief flooded her. He was going to be all right...

Now she just had to pray he wouldn't freak out...

She slowly released him and pulled her arm away, eyes wary. Harry, finally coming back to reality, sprang to his feet. There was now only a slight pain in his side. His eyes were widened to their full limits as he stared at Hope, his mouth open in shock.

"How... Wha- What _are_ you?"

"I..."

"Harry! Hope!" Hermione called and they looked up. She was now running toward them, panting. "I tried to catch him but I lost him..." she came to a stop in front of them. "Are you two all right?" She then whirled around to the prone figure a few feet behind them. "Ron!"

She ran, and the other two followed, toward the fallen Ron. The redheaded boy's eyes were only half closed, his mouth open and he was breathing but it seemed he didn't recognize them.

"What did he do to him?" Hermione whispered.

"I don't know..." Harry said and looked around. Lupin and Black were both gone. Only the unconscious, levitating Snape was there. He then turned to Hope. "Can you help him?" he asked her suddenly. He didn't care what she was if she could help Ron...

"I don't think it works on curses..." Hope said uneasily.

The discussion was halted when a terrible sound reached their ears. A yelping, whining noise. A dog in pain.

"Sirius..." Harry muttered and darted forward without a second thought.

The girls took off after him, leaving Ron and the dangling Snape. The yelping seemed to be coming from the ground near the edge of the lake. They pelted toward it. That's when they felt the cold without realizing what it meant.

The yelping stopped. When they reached the lakeshore, they saw why. Sirius had turned back into a man and he was crouched on all fours, hands over his head.

"_Noo," _he moaned. "Please, _nooo!"_

That's when Harry saw them. Dementors, at least a hundred of them. They glided in a black mass around the lake toward them. The familiar cold penetrated Harry's insides and fog started to obscure his vision. More were appearing out of the darkness on every side; they were circling them.

"Think of something happy!" he yelled at the girls behind him. Harry raised his wand, trying hard to clear his vision. He tried to clear his head of the faint screaming that started inside of it.

_I'm going to live with my godfather. I'm leaving the Dursleys._

"_Expecto Patronum!"_

Black shuddered and rolled onto his back, pale as death.

_I'm going to live with him. He'll be all right. _

"_Expecto Patronum!_ Hermione, Hope! Help me!"

Hermione pointed her wand. "_Expecto... Expecto..."_

Hope was panting behind him, tears pooling. She pointed her wand. "_Ex... ex..."_ She then turned her wand on herself.

"Hope, no..." Hermione said weakly before she collapsed to the ground.

He risked a glance at Hope. She had dropped to her knees, wand at her neck. It was then he remembered what being around the dementors did to her.

"Hope, stop it!" He tried to wrestle the wand from her.

"There's no... point..." she muttered, eyes pooling with tears. A thin sheen of sparks from her wand nearly caught her neck.

"Shit, sorry about this... _Petrificus Totalus!"_

Hope went still as a board but no longer a threat to herself. However he was completely alone now.

"_Expecto... expecto patronum..."_

Hope stared up blankly at the wall of cloaked figures that surrounded them. She wouldn't be able to tell Parvati how sorry she was for being so mean. She wouldn't be able to apologize to Neville.

.

She wouldn't see her Aunt Bex or Uncle Elijah.

She'd never meet her mother and father. Never step foot in New Orleans. All their sacrificing was for nothing.

_Esther won..._

A pair of cold, clammy hands gripped her throat, lifting her up. It lowered its head and she smelled its fetid breath.

"LEAVE HER ALONE! _EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

A thin silvery mist emitted from the tip of Harry's wand and he aimed it the dementor that had reached for Hope. The formless Patronus had the dementor halting, then it dropped her, her head hitting the earth with a sickening thud. The dementor then made a motion as if brushing the silver mist aside.

The dementor moved from her, seemingly considering him. He felt the others watching him, their breath rattling around him. The one that was about to Kiss Hope glided toward him.

"No... _expecto... expecto_..."

Terror swam through his vein, freezing his blood. Moving was impossible. Speaking was pointless. His feeble Patronus flickered away and died.

He couldn't give up here. He had to fight... He had to save them... Had to save _him!_ They weren't going to take Sirius.

Strong, clammy hands snapped around his throat, forcing his face upward. So, they were going to finish him first, then the others.

The dementor lowered it's hood...

There were no eyes, only empty sockets surrounded by rotting skin. And where there should have been a mouth- a gaping void that sucked in air, making it rattle like bones in a grave. He had no choice but to look into the gray, scabbed skin that stretched over the empty eye sockets. It sucked in the air in a chilling rattle and terror had him paralyzed.

White fog blinded him. He had to fight... But the screaming... the screaming was so loud... He groped in the mist for Sirius and grasped his arm. They couldn't take him!

Harry felt the dementor's putrid breath... His mother was screaming in his ears...

A silver light cut through the fog. He thought he saw it grow brighter and brighter... He fell into the grass for a second time that night, sick and shaking. He was finally able to open his eyes. The dementor had released him... But, how?

The light illuminated the grass around him. The screams had stopped, the cold was receding.

There was something, though he didn't know what, driving the dementors away. It was circling around him, Hermione, Hope and Sirius. They were leaving... the air was warm again.

It took every ounce of strength he had but he managed to raise his head a few inches. There he saw it, the animal amid the light. Eyes stinging with sweat he tried to make out what it was. It was as bright as a unicorn.

Harry tried to fight a losing battle with his consciousness as he watched the animal canter back to a halt as it reached the opposite shore. For a moment, Harry saw, by its brightness, someone welcoming it back... raising a hand to it...

That person looked so familiar... but it couldn't possibly be...

Harry couldn't think anymore. The last vestiges of strength left him, and his head hit the ground as he fainted.

* * *

"Shocking business... shocking... miracle none of them died... never heard the like... Good lord, Snape, it was lucky you were there."

"Thank you, Minister."

"Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can wangle it!"

"Thank you very much indeed, Minister."

"That's quite a cut you have there. Black's doing, I gather."

"Actually, it was Potter, Weasley and Granger, Minister. And, if Mitchell had her wand, she would have surely joined them."

"NO!"

"Black had them bewitched. Confundus Charm, to judge by their behavior. They seemed to think he was innocent. They weren't responsible for their actions. One the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape. They clearly thought they were going to catch Black single-handed. These three have gotten away with a great deal before now, and it's give them a rather high opinion of themselves. This one here must have figured that due to her spot of luck against a vampire, that a mass murderer would be no match for her."

"So _she's_ the young lady that actually bested a vampire?"

"Yes, Minister, though with sheer luck. Also, Potter here has always been allowed an extraordinary amount of license by the headmaster..."

"Ah, well, Snape... Harry Potter, know... we all have a bit of a blind spot where he's concerned."

"And yet, is it really good for him, Minister? To be given so much special treatment? Personally, I try and treat him like any other student. And any other student would be suspended, at the very least, for leading his friends into such danger. Consider, Minister, against all school rules and the precautions that were set up for his protection in the first place, he was out of bounds, at night, consorting with a werewolf and a murderer. I also have reason to believe that he was visiting Hogsmeade illegally."

"Well, well... we shall see, Snape, we shall see. The boy has undoubtedly been foolish."

Harry lay listening with his eyes screwed shut. It was like the words were coming from the end of a very long tunnel, and very slowly at that, so that they were difficult to understand. His body felt heavy, his eyelids were too heavy to lift. All he wanted was to lie in this comfortable bed forever.

"What astounds me is the behavior of the dementors... you've really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?"

"No, Minister, bu the time I had come 'round they were heading back to their positions at the entrances..."

"Extraordinary. And yet, Black, Harry and the girls..."

"All unconscious by the time I reached them. Though this one was under a Total Body Bind Curse. I used a counter curse on her. I bound and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers, and brought them all straight to the castle."

There was a pause. The wheels in Harry's brain began to move a little faster, and as they did, a gnawing feeling grew in the pit of his stomach.

He forced his eyes to open.

Everything was slightly blurred. Someone had removed his glasses. He was lying in the dark hospital wing. At the end of the ward he could make out Madam Pomfrey with her back to him, bending over a bed. Harry squinted. Ron's red hair was visible beneath her arm.

He turned his head on his pillow. Hermione lay in the bed to his right, illuminated by the moonlight. Her eyes were open and she looked petrified. She saw he was awake and had pressed a finger to her lips then pointed at the slightly ajar door. The voices of Cornelius Fudge and Snape were coming through it from the corridor outside. The bed nearest the door contained a brunette figure. Hope was shivering, tossing, breathing shallowly and was quite pale.

Madam Pomfrey was now checking on Hope then she moved to Harry's bed. She was carrying the largest block of chocolate he had ever seen. It looked like a small boulder.

"Ah, you're awake!" she said briskly and began to break apart the chocolate with a hammer and chisel.

"How are Ron and Hope?" they asked at the same time.

"They'll live," the nurse told them. "As for you two, you'll be staying here until I'm satisfied- Potter! What do you think you're doing?"

Harry had shoved his glasses onto his face and grabbed his wand. "I need to see the headmaster-"

"It's all right," Madam Pomfrey said comfortingly. "They've got Black. He's locked away upstairs. The dementors will be performing the kiss on him any moment-"

"WHAT?!"

Harry and Hermione both shot from their beds. However the shout he had let out alerted the ones in the hall and the Minster and Snape came sweeping into the ward.

"Harry, what's all this?" the Minister asked, looking annoyed. "You shouldn't be out of bed," he then turned to Madam Pomfrey "Has he had any chocolate?"

"Minister, listen!" Harry said. "Sirius Black's innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't let the dementors-"

However the Minister was looking at Harry, shaking his head with a small smile.

"Harry, dear boy, you're very confused and have been through a horrible ordeal. Now, why don't you lie back down, we've got everything under control-"

"NO, YOU HAVEN'T! YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"

"Minster, please, listen," Hermione begged. "I saw him too. It was Ron's rat, he's an Animagus, Pettigrew, I mean-"

"You see, Minister?" Snape said. "Confunded, both of them. Black did a number on them."

"WE'RE NOT CONFUNDED!" Harry yelled.

"Minister! Professor!" Madam Pomfrey hissed angrily. "I must insist that you leave. My patients should not be distressed-"

A loud, pained moan from the bed nearest the door grabbed everyone's attention.

"No... I didn't mean... I'm sorry..." Hope was thrashing in her bed, tears leaking from her shut eyes like the last time she was in the ward after the match against Hufflepuff. "I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to..."

"Oh dear, stand back..." Madam Pomfrey said, remembering what happened last time.

And on cue, the curtains above Hope's bed were set ablaze. Fudge let out a startled shout, Snape stepped back and Hermione shrieked. However, the curtains soon extinguished themselves though it was not Madam Pomfrey who had done it but Professor Dumbledore, who had just entered the ward.

"Professor Dumbledore, Sirius Black-" Harry began.

"For the love of Merlin!" Madam Pomfrey said hysterically, not noticing as all the noise had now awoken Hope. "Is this a hospital wing or not?! Headmaster, I must insist-"

"My apologies, Poppy, but I need a moment with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger... and also Miss Mitchell now that she's awake. I've just been talking to Sirius Black-"

"I suppose he's told you the same cock and bull story he's planted into their minds?" Snape spat "Something about a rat, and Pettigrew being alive-"

"What's going on?" Hope asked only to have a large piece of chocolate shoved into her mouth by Madam Pomfrey.

"After you eat that, take this potion. It's for a dreamless sleep. I daresay you could use it," the woman then set a bottle on Hope's nightstand and strode over to the others.

"That is indeed Black's story," Dumbledore replied.

"And does my evidence count for nothing?" snarled Snape. "Peter Pettigrew was not in the Shrieking Shack, nor did I see any signs of him on the grounds."

"That was because you were knocked out, Professor!" Hermione said earnestly. "You didn't arrive in time to hear-"

"Miss Granger, HOLD YOUR TONGUE!"

"Now, Snape, really. The young lady is disturbed in her mind. Allowances must be made-"

"I would like to speak to Harry, Hermione and Hope alone, "Dumbledore cut across the chatter. "Cornelius, Severus, Poppy-leave us."

"Headmaster!" Madam Pomfrey spluttered. "They need treatment and rest-"

"This cannot wait. I insist."

Madam Pomfrey huffed, pursed her lips and stormed back into her office at the end of the ward, slamming the door behind her. Fudge took out a gold watch and checked the time, claiming that he needed to meet the dementors. Snape, however, did not move.

"You don't believe a word of Black's story, do you?" Snape hissed.

"I wish to speak to these children alone," Dumbledore insisted.

"Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen," Snape whispered. "You haven't forgotten that, headmaster? That he once tried to kill _me_?"

"My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus."

Snape turned on his heel and strode from the room, out the door that Fudge held open. Once it shut and he had turned to the two standing teens, they both broke into speech at once.

"-he escaped when Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf-"

"-he's a rat-"

"-his front paw has a toe missing. He cut it off when he killed those people-"

"-Pettigrew attacked Ron, it wasn't Sirius-"

Dumbledore then held up a hand to silence Harry and Hermione. Hope had been oddly silent. "Now, it is your turn to listen and I beg you not to interrupt as there is very little time. There is not a shred of proof to support Black's story, except your word, and the word of a group of teenaged wizards will not convince anyone. There was a street full of witness that swore Pettigrew murdered at the hands of Sirius. I, myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potter's Secret-Keeper."

"But, Professor Lupin-" Hope said from her bed and Dumbledore held up a hand to silence her.

"Professor Lupin is currently deep in the forest, unable to tell anyone anything. By the time he is human again, it will be too late. And I might add that werewolves are so mistrusted by most of our kind that his support will count for very little.. and the fact that he and Sirius are old friends-"

"Urgh!" Hope snarled. She was really beginning to hate the wizard world.

"But-" Harry began.

"Harry, it is too late. Professor Snape's version is far more convincing than yours. And you must understand that Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady, entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife... and without Pettigrew, dead or alive, we have no chance of overturning Sirius's sentence."

"What about the vampire you had looking for Sirius?" Harry asked suddenly. "Couldn't she find Pettigrew if we told her what we were looking for?"

"While a vampire, even such an old one as the one whose help I enlisted, would be unable to find one rat in such a vast forest in such a small amount of time. I would hazard a guess that Pettigrew is no longer even on the grounds at all now that his secret is out." Dumbledore didn't even seem surprised that Harry knew about the vampire. "I do believe you. But, I haven't the power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule the Ministry of Magic."

Harry seemed to just deflate at the words and sat, numbly, on Hope's bed. He had grown so used to the idea that Dumbledore could solve anything... but not this time. Now, his godfather was going to suffer a fate worse than death. A fate he didn't deserve...

"What we need..." Dumbledore's gaze moved from Harry to Hermione "... is more _time."_

Hope, who had been watching the broken boy, stomach knotting with sorrow for him, blinked at the sudden shift in the room. Hermione's eyes had widened to their full limits as if she had just realized the solution to a difficult problem. Dumbledore was then speaking lowly to Hermione and Harry had gotten off the bed to move closer.

"Now, pay attention, both of you. Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight. But, remember, this the both of you. _You must not be seen._ Miss Granger, you know the law and what's at stake. You must not be seen."

Hermione nodded gravely while Harry blinked in confusion. What was going on? He then glanced at Hope and turned back to Dumbledore. "What about her?"

The headmaster turned to regard Hope. "I'm afraid I'll have to insist you stay here and get a good night's rest, Hope. This is not a journey meant for three," Dumbledore's voice left no room for argument.

Hope huffed, annoyed that she would miss whatever action was to come. However, as she glanced out the window at the full moon, she decided maybe she should stay in bed. But, she was still ready to protest.

"You have been through quite enough for one night," the headmaster continued. "And I would gather if anything more were to happen to you tonight, then your lovely aunt would have my guts for garters."

That had Hope's brow winging up. "You know my Auntie Bex? How-" she then stopped and remembered Hagrid speaking of the 'pretty vampire.' Her mouth fell open in shock and she just slumped back onto the pillows. "No words... My words have failed me... I'm going into stasis now..." She then grabbed the potion that Madam Pomfrey left for her.

"It is now five minutes to midnight. Once Hope has taken her potion, Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."

"What...?" Harry said, completely lost. "What's he talking about?" he turned to Hermione who was fumbling for something in her shirt. She paused to glance at Hope. "Hope, you have to take your potion before I can do anything!" she said shrilly. "You heard Dumbledore!" She then turned to Harry. "Get over here, quick!"

Hermione tugged Harry over to her, giving Hope a pointed look. "You can't witness this, Hope. Please, take your potion."

"Why can't I witne-"

"I don't have time to explain it, but somehow, I don't know how, we might be able to save Sirius and I swear to Merlin, I will force feed it to you!" Hermione said in a hissing whisper. "You heard him, it's a _law!"_

Hope's nostrils flared at Hermione's audacity but the mention that whatever they were going to do would save Sirius had her concede. "Fine... Good luck, guys," Hope said as she downed her potion. "Go... thwart... something..." she then hit the pillows, soft snores sounding from her lips.

Once Hope was asleep, Hermione tugged a very long, fine gold chain from her robes and tossed it around Harry's neck as well. At the end of it was a small, sparkling hourglass.

"Ready?" she asked.

"What are we doing?" Harry asked, still lost. However, Hermione had gave the little hourglass three turns.

The dark ward dissolved. Harry felt as if he was flying, backwards, very fast. A blur of colors and shapes rushed past him, his head was pounding, he tried to yell but he couldn't hear his own voice.

And then his feet were back on solid ground, and everything came into focus again.

He was standing with Hermione in the deserted entrance hall and a ray of sunlight was falling across the paved floor from the open front doors. He whirled to look at Hermione, the gold chain cutting into his neck.

"What the-"

"In here!" Hermione yanked him into a broom closet, slamming the door behind them.

"What- how... Hermione, what happened?"

"We've gone back in time," Hermione told him as she lifted the chain from his neck. "Three hours back."

Harry twisted a patch of skin on arm. Well, that hurt so he wasn't dreaming. "But-"

"Shh! Someone's coming... I think it's us..."

Hermione pressed her ear against the door. "Footsteps across the hall... three sets... that's us going to hide in the chamber... And... one more set following. That's Hope."

Harry peered through the crack of the door and sure enough, there was Hope. She walked quickly across the hall, arms folded and curly ponytail swinging. She was grumbling to herself.

"Stupid potions and stupid boggarts and ugh... stupid fucking moon..." She then squared her shoulders and headed to the chamber where their past-selves were hidden and Harry heard her chipper "Hi."

"Are you telling me..." Harry turned to Hermione in shock "That we're in here and out there, too?"

"Yes," said Hermione, her ear still to the door. "I'm sure it's us. I hear four sets of feet... moving slowly... I think Ron just stepped on the back of my foot... We're under the Invisibility Cloak and headed to Hagrid's... now we've gone down the front steps..."

"What _is_ that thing?" Harry asked in shock. "And where did you get it?"

"It's called a Time-Turner and I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my classes. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone. She had to write a bunch of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them that I was a model student and would never use it for anything other than lessons. But... Harry... I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do... How will three hours back help Sirius?"

Harry sighed in frustration, tossing his mind around. "There must have been something he wanted us to change... What happened? We were walking down to Hagrid's three hours ago... Before I had yelled at Hope because she didn't care that-" He froze when it came to him. "Hermione, he wants us to save Buckbeak! He said we could save more than one innocent life!"

"But... How will that help?"

"Dumbledore told us where the window is... Flitwick's office... Sirius is locked up on the seventh floor! We've got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius! Sirius can escape on Buckbeak and they can escape together!"

Hermione now looked terrified. "But... if manage that without being seen, it'll be a miracle..."

"Well, we've got to try, don't we?" It didn't sound like anyone was there anymore. They pushed open the door and the entrance hall was deserted. They darted from the closet and down the stone steps.

"If anyone one's looking out of the window..."

"We'll run for it... Head for the forest and hide behind a tree or something and keep a lookout-"

"Okay, but go around by the greenhouses. We need to keep out of sigh of Hagrid's front door, or we'll see us!"

Harry was still trying to figure out what she just said. They dashed across the vegetable gardens to the greenhouses, paused behind them, then set off again. Soon they were dodging the Whomping Willow and safe and sound in the forest. They then set off for Hagrid's, Hermione warning him to keep out of sight.

They finally saw the front door of Hagrid's house as they hid in the edge of the forest. They heard a knock. Ducking behind a tree, they watched as Hagrid opened his door.

"It's us. And Hope. We're wearing the Invisibility Cloak," Harry heard his own voice.

"This is so weird..." Harry muttered and they moved a bit along to get closer to Buckbeak.

They crept through the trees until they set eyes on the nervous hippogriff, tethered to the fence.

"Now?" Harry whispered.

"Not yet! If we steal him now, those Committee people will think Hagrid set him free! We've got to wait until they've seen him outside."

Considering that only gave them a minute at best... The whole things seemed impossible now that they were doing it.

There was a crash from inside the hut. Hagrid had broken the milk jug. Next was Hermione's shriek when she discovered Scabbers.

"Hermione, what if.." he said, an idea coming to him. "What if we just grab Pettigrew and run?"

"No! You don't understand! We're breaking one of the most important wizarding laws! Nobody's supposed to mess with time, nobody! You heard Dumbledore! If we're seen-"

"We'd only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid!"

"Harry, Dumbledore told me to make sure Hope was asleep like Ron before we went. We can't be seen! What would you do if you saw yourself bounding into Hagrid's house?"

Harry paused to think. "I'd... think I'd gone mad or there was some Dark Magic going on..."

"Right! You might even attack yourself. Professor McGonagall told me what horrible things happened to wizards who messed with time. Many killed their past or future selves by mistake!"

Harry opened his mouth to reply but she had shushed him and pointed toward the castle. Dumbledore, Fudge and the two Ministry wizards were making their way toward the hut. And then he saw himself, Ron, Hermione and Hope leave with Hagrid. It was the weirdest thing he'd ever done.

"Hagrid, we can't-"

"We'll tell them what really happened-"

"They can't kill him!"

"My aunt knows people! And she's way scarier! If Malfoy's dad can buy or scare them off, she can double it!"

"Go! It's bad enough without yeh lot getting' in trouble... Go on..."

Harry watched as his past self pulled the Cloak over the group.

"Don' listen..."

There was a knock at Hagrid's front door. The execution party had arrived. Hagrid went back inside, leaving the backdoor ajar. He saw patches of grass flatten as their past-selves made their way back to the castle. They heard the men speaking, Macnair was more than ready to get the execution underway. Fudge had to tell him to pay attention to what was being said and to quit looking out at Buckbeak. The man's face disappeared from the window and they knew it was time to act.

Harry rushed to Buckbeak and bowed, not blinking. The creature reciprocated the bow. Harry then moved to untie the animal from the fence. He heard the Minister reading the death sentence for Buckbeak and his fingers fumbled. He had to hurry...

"..._sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried out by the Committee's appointed executioner, Walden Macnair..."_

"C'mon, Buckbeak..." Harry said softly as he tugged him toward the forest. However the hippogriff was stubbornly not moving. Footsteps where echoing within the cabin.

"Buckbeak, move!" Harry hissed. He tugged harder and finally Buckbeak walked forward, wings rustling irritably.

"Macnair, you must sign along with the rest of us," said Dumbledore's voice.

Harry gave another tug. They were ten feet away from the forest and in plain view of Hagrid's back door. Buckbeak snapped his beak and walked a little faster.

"Hurry!" Hermione whispered frantically.

He gave the rope another tug and Buckbeak grudgingly trotted, finally entering the forest and out of sight from the cabin. Hermione grabbed the rope as well to pull him deeper into the forest. They were now blocked from sight and couldn't see Hagrid's garden at all.

The sound of Hagrid's backdoor banging filled the air. The three froze. There was silence.

"Where is it? Where's the beast?" the voice of the old wizard came.

"It was just here!" Macnair growled. "I just saw it!"

How extraordinary!" Dumbledore's voice sounded amused.

"Beaky!" Hagrid cried happily.

There was a swishing noise. Macnair had swung the axe at the fence in anger. And then came the sound of Hagrid's sobs of joy. Buckbeak tried to make his way back to Hagrid and it took both Harry and Hermione to keep him from doing so, to tug him further into the forest.

"We should get to the Whomping Willow..." Harry said, "Or we won't know what's going on."

The made their way to the Willow, both keeping a firm grip on Buckbeak's rope. Darkness fell quickly around them.

"There's Ron!" Harry said suddenly.

They watched as Ron dived for the rat. Saw themselves and Hope run after him.

"There's Sirius!"

The great dog bounded from the roots of the Willow, bowled over Harry. They watched as Hope screamed and took down the dog in a running tackle. They rolled and Sirius had pinned her to the ground-

"Wow, it looks worse from here, doesn't it?" Harry muttered, wincing as Sirius dragged Ron into the roots. "Ouch! I just got hit by the Willow... this is weird..."

They watched as both past Hermione and Hope got hit by the Willow and were sent flying. He saw himself about to get hit again but Hope had covered him and she was hit instead. He had helped her up and that's when he saw her heal...

It was surreal that in all of the madness that had happened, Harry had forgotten that little tidbit. He glanced at Hermione, wondering if she could see it happening from here, the way Hope's flesh slowly knitted before his eyes. Considering it was dark and they were observing from far away, it was doubtful that Hermione witnessed it.

Crookshanks had darted forward and pressed the knot with his paw. Then they disappeared into the trunk after the cat. Seconds later, Dumbledore, Macnair, Fudge and the ancient old wizard made there way up the path.

"Right after we'd gone in, too!" Hermione whispered in disbelief as she watched the men make their way toward the castle. "Oh, if only we had brought Dumbledore with us."

"Macnair and Fudge would've came too," Harry said bitterly "And I'll bet anything Fudge would've made Macnair kill Sirius right then and there."

The men had disappeared up the path and into the castle and then a moment later came Lupin, sprinting from the castle and toward the Willow. Harry and Hermione chanced a glance and saw the moon was covered by clouds.

"Though, the transformation actually occurs when the moon reaches its peak, or crest..." Hermione muttered as they turned back to the tree.

"If only he'd grabbed the Cloak... it's right there..." Harry hissed. "If I just dashed out now and grabbed it, Snape'd never be able to get it-"

"Harry, we mustn't be seen!"

"How can you stand here, watching and doing nothing?!" he growled at her before turning back to the Willow. He made a move to grab it but Hermione tackled him around the middle. And it was lucky that she did as Hagrid had come drunkenly up the path toward the castle, a huge bottle in hand as he sang happily.

"See what would've happened!?" Hermione hissed. "We can't be seen! No, Buckbeak!"

Buckbeak made another mad attempt to get to Hagrid and Harry and Hermione had to hold him back, digging their heels into the ground as they did. They watched as Hagrid lumbered toward the castle, happily tipsy and unaware of what was happening. He was gone. Buckbeak stopped fighting and his head drooped sadly.

A moment later Snape came bounding from the castle. Harry's fists clenched as he watched the man grab the Invisibility Cloak from the base of the Willow before heading into the tree.

"So that's it then... Now we wait," Hermione said. She then tied Buckbeak's rope to the nearest tree and took a seat on the ground. "But, what I don't understand is... Why didn't the dementors get Sirius? I remember them coming... Hope was about to... and I passed out, I think... there were so many of them..."

Harry sat down too and explained what had happened. How he had paralyzed Hope to stop her from hurting herself but one of them had zoomed toward her and was about to Kiss her... He had tried to save her but he'd only succeeded in distracting it. It had lowered its mouth to Harry's, a large silver something had then come and drove the dementors all away.

After he finished, Hermione's mouth had fallen open. "But, what was it?"

"A Patronus," he told her. "A powerful one... That's the only thing that could drive them off."

"Who conjured it?"

Harry said nothing. He was thinking of who he thought he had seen on the other side of the lake. He knew who he thought it was... but that was impossible.

"Did you see what they looked like? Was it a teacher?"

"No... He wasn't a teacher..."

"But, did you see anything? It must have been a really powerful wizard, to drive away all those dementors. If the Patronus was shining so brightly, didn't it light him up? Couldn't you see-?"

Yeah, I saw..." Harry said slowly. "But... maybe I imagined it... I wasn't thinking straight... I passed out right afterward..."

_Who did you think it was?" _Hermione urged impatiently.

Harry didn't want to say it. He knew how weird it was going to sound but he forced the words from his throat. "I think... I think I saw my dad..."

He chanced a glance at Hermione and saw that her mouth had dropped again. She was looking at him with a mix of alarm and pity.

"Harry, but... your dad's... well..."

"Dead. I know," he said shortly.

"You think you saw his ghost?"

"I don't know..." He paused to think. "No... he looked solid... From what I could see, it looked like him. I have photos of him... And I know it sounds crazy..." He turned around before Hermione could say anything else, preferring instead to watch Buckbeak search for worms. However, his mind wasn't on the hippogriff.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. Had all of them been out on the grounds tonight? Wormtail had reappeared when everyone thought he was dead,,, Was it so impossible his father had done the same? Had he been seeing things across the lake?

"Here we come..." Hermione whispered, pointing toward the Willow.

Harry got to his feet and Buckbeak raised his head to watch. They saw Ron, Lupin and Pettigrew clamor out of the hole first. Followed by an unconscious Snape. Next came Harry, Hope, Hermione and Black. They all began walking toward the castle.

Harry's heart was pounding, his fists clenching. He looked up at the sky... That cloud was going to move at any moment...

Hermione seemed to know what he was thinking. "Harry, we have to stay put... We mustn't be seen! There's nothing we can do."

"So we're just going to sit here and let Pettigrew get away all over again..."

"I tried to catch that rat in the dark... It's pointless," Hermione snapped. "There's nothing we can do. We came back to help Sirius, not do anything else!"

"_All right!"_

The moon slid out from behind its cloud. They saw the tiny figures across the grounds stop. Then there was movement.

"Lupin's transforming..." They watched as the man's form went from human to large wolf.

From how far they were, they could only make out the small figures of Sirius and Lupin as they locked jaws in combat. He recalled the fight and how-

"Hermione, we have to move! You're going to chase after Pettigrew and Lupin's going to run into the forest, right at us."

Hermione's eyes widened and she dashed to untie Buckbeak. "Where can we go?" she asked frantically.

"Back to Hagrid's!" Harry said. "It's empty now!"

They ran as fast as they could, dragging Buckbeak behind them. They heard past-Hermione's shout of "Lumos Maxima!" as she chased Pettigrew into the forest.

They made it to Hagrid's without being seen. Hermione and Buckbeak ran into the hut and Harry followed, locking the door behind them. Fang the boarhound barked loudly.

"Fang, shh! It's us!" she scratched him behind the ears to quiet them.

Buckbeak seemed very happy to find himself back in Hagrid's hut. He curled himself up on the patchwork quilt, ready for a good nap.

Harry stood at the window. It was much harder to see what was going on from here. "I think I'd better go outside again... I can't see what's going on. We won't know when it's time-"

Hermione eyed him suspiciously.

"I'm not going to try and interfere!" Harry said quickly. "But if we don't know what's going on, how're we going, how're we going to know when it's time to save Sirius?"

Hermione nodded. "Fine... I'll wait here... But be careful, Harry. There's a werewolf out there and dementors..."

Harry nodded and stepped out into the night. He took a few steps away from the hut. He had a feeling at the moment Hope was keeping Lupin from eating his past self... meaning soon she would be using a Slicing Charm on her wrist and...

Absently, Harry checked his side where his wound had been. There was only a small nick, the size of a paper cut...

The distant sound of yelping caught his ears and his head shot up. The dementors were closing in on Sirius... he and the girls would be running into him at any moment...

Harry made his way toward the lake, his heart pounding in his ears. Whoever sent that Patronus would be appearing soon.

The words '_You must not be seen'_ echoed through his head but he didn't want to see. He wanted to do the seeing. He had to know...

And there were the dementors. The slid from every direction, gliding around the edges of the lake. They moved away from where Harry stood, to the opposite bank.

His legs on autopilot, he ran. There was no thought in his head except for his father. If it was him... if it was really him... He had to know...

The lake was getting bigger as he got closer, but there was no sign of anyone. On the opposite bank, he saw small glimmers of silver... his own feeble attempts at a Patronus.

There was a bush at the very edge of the water and he dived behind it, peering through the leaves. He watched as the glimmers of silver were extinguished. His heart roared in his head... his stomach twisted... Any moment now...

"C'mon... Where are you, Dad?"

But no one came. Harry raised his head to look at the swarm of dementors across the lake. One of them was lowering its hood. It was time for his rescuer to appear... but no one was coming to help...

And then it hit him like an electric shock. He finally got it. He hadn't seen his father. He had seen himself.

Harry sprang from the bus and pulled out his wand.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

The end the of his wand shot something forth, not a silvery vapor, but a blinding, dazzling silver animal. He squinted against its brightness, trying to see what it was. It looked like a horse. It galloped away from him, hooves not making a sound, across the black surface of the lake. He saw it lower its head and charge threw at the circling dementors. It galloped all around the black shapes, and they fell back, scattering into the darkness.

The Patronus turned. It was trotting back toward Harry across the smooth surface of the neck. It wasn't a horse. It wasn't a unicorn. It was a stag.

It shone brightly as the full moon above as it came back toward him.

It stopped on the the bank and its hooves made no impression on the ground as it stared at Harry with its large, silver eyes. Slowly, it bowed its head and Harry realized...

"Prongs..."

His shaking hands reached toward the creature but it vanished when his fingertips were but an inch away.

Harry still stood, hand still outstretched, when he heard the thunder of hooves behind him. He whirled around to see Hermione dashing toward him, dragging Buckbeak behind her.

"What did you do?" she hissed. "You said you were only going to keep a lookout!"

Harry quickly explained everything that had happened from the moment he had stepped out of Hagrid's hut to just before she had arrived. As he did so Hermione's eyes had widened her mouth dropped.

"Harry- You made a Patronus that drove away all of those dementors?! That's very, _very_ advanced magic!... But, did anyone see you?"

"Yes, I saw me, but I thought I was my dad, so it's all right..."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief but stopped when she noticed movement. "Hey, look at Snape..."

They peered around the bush at the other end of the bank. Snape had regained consciousness and had made his way to where their past selves were. There was a stretcher floating behind him that held Ron's limp form. He conjured four more for the others after flicking his wand at one of them, releasing the Body-Bind hex Harry had cast on Hope. Then, wand held in front of him, he made his way toward the castle.

"All right... it's nearly time," Hermione said, looking at her watch. "We've got nearly a half hour until Dumbledore locks the door to the hospital wing. We've got to rescue Sirius and get back into the ward before anyone realizes we're missing..."

They waited, watching the clouds reflected in the lake. Buckbeak, bored, decided to search for worms again.

"D'you think he's up there yet?" Harry asked as he counted the windows to the West Tower.

"Harry!" Hermione pointed to the entrance of the castle. "Who is that?"

Harry squinted in the darkness. There was a man hurrying from the castle, something shiny at his belt.

"Macnair! He's gone to get the dementors! This is it-"

Hermione heaved herself onto Buckbeak's back and Harry hoisted himself up in front of her. He pulled Buckbeak's rope back over his neck and fashioned a sort of rein for them to hold onto.

"You'd better hold on to me-" he told Hermione as he nudged Buckbeak's sides with his heels.

Buckbeak soared into the dark sky. Harry gripped his flanks with his knees, feeling the wings rising powerfully beneath them. Hermione held a tight grip onto his waist. "Oh... I don't like this... I don't like this at all..."

Harry urged Buckbeak forward; they glided quietly toward the upper floors of the castle. Harry pulled hard on the left-hand side of the ropes and Buckbeak turned. The windows flashed past and Harry did his best to count them.

"Whoa!" Harry pulled backward as hard as he could.

Buckbeak slowed to a stop, though they were still rising and falling with each flap of his great wings. Harry peered through the windows and spotted the thin form of Sirius in one of the windows. "There he is!" He reached out and tapped the glass sharply to get the man's attention.

Sirius looked up and his jaw dropped. He leapt from his chair, rushed to the window only to find it was locked. Hermione, still gripping Harry's waist with her left hand, pulled out her wand and pointed it at the window.

"_Alohomora!"_

The window sprang open. Black stared at the hippogriff as if he hadn't seen anything like it before looking weakly at Harry. "How... how..."

"Get on, there isn't much time!" Harry said as he gripped Buckbeak firmly to keep his steady. "Macnair's gone to get the dementors, you've got to get out of here."

Sirius managed to squeeze through the small window and he wordlessly clamored onto the hippogriff's back behind Hermione.

"Okay, Buckbeak, up!" Harry commanded, shaking the rope. "Up the tower, let's go!"

Buckbeak gave a great flap of his wings and they were soaring to the top of the tower. Withing seconds his legs landed with a clatter and Harry and Hermione scrambled off him at once.

"Sirius, get out of here quick," Harry told him. "They'll be at Flitwick's office any second."

Buckbeak pawed the roof, tossing his head impatiently.

"What happened to the other boy and girl? Ron and Hope?" Sirius asked hoarsely, still disbelieving what was happening.

"He's going to be okay. He's still out of it but Madam Pomfrey says she'll be able to make him better. Hope's fine. Sleeping potion. Quick, go!"

Sirius was still staring down at Harry. "How can I ever thank-"

"GO!" both Harry and Hermione shouted.

"I can never thank you enough, Harry... You truly are your father's son." With one last look at the two teens, Sirius tugged Buckbeak's rope. The hippogriff took to the skies and the two flew fugitives disappeared into the shining, silver moon.

"Harry!"

Harry turned, Hermione was pointing at her watch. "We've got ten minutes to get back into the hospital ward before Dumbledore locks the door."

They slipped through the doorway behind them and down a small, tight stairwell. Once they reached the bottom of it, they heard voices: the Minister and Snape.

"...only hope Dumbledore won't cause problems..." Snape muttered. "The Kiss will be performed immediately?"

"As soon as Macnair returns with the dementors... This whole Black affair has been embarrassing... I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to informing the Daily Prophet that we've captured him. I'm sure they'll want to interview you, Snape. And once the Confundus curse wears off of young Harry and he's in his right mind, I'm sure he'll tell the _Prophet _how you rescued him."

Harry opened the door just a bit and saw a satisfied smirk curl Snape's mouth. Harry's fist clenched as he watched the men pass their hiding place. Their footsteps soon faded around a corner and Harry and Hermione darted out of the room.

Down one staircase, then another, and-

The stopped short and Harry yanked Hermione behind a suit of armor. It was Padma Patil of Ravenclaw and Cedric Diggory. Clearly sneaking around for a midnight snog.

"Bloody hell..." Hermione whimpered but it seemed fate was smiling on them. Cedric pulled Padma off to another direction toward one of the many unused classrooms.

They waited until the sound of the teens husky murmurs and loud, smacking kisses receded before heading toward the wing. Hermione checked her watch. They had exactly one minute.

They crept along the corridor. They heard Dumbledore speaking to their past-selves.

"It is now five minutes to midnight. Once Hope has taken her potion, Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."

Dumbledore exited the room and took out his wand to lock the door. Panicking, Harry and Hermione ran forward. Dumbledore turned to them with a wide smile on his mouth. "Well?"

"We did it... they escaped..." Harry panted.

"Very good!" Dumbledore paused to listen at the door. They vaguely made out Hope's sleepy order for them to 'thwart something' before the soft thud of her back hitting the pillow, then soft, feminine snores. "I think you have left as well. Go on. I'll lock you in."

Harry and Hermione rushed into the ward and into their beds. Ron was still asleep as was Hope. Hermione tucked the Time-Turner back into her robes just as Madam Pomfrey exited her office.

"Has the headmaster left? Am I allowed to check on my patients now?" she asked, clearly pissed off. Harry and Hermione quietly took the offerings of chocolate so as not to anger her more.

As they ate, they both waited... Knowing it was only a few moments before someone discovered...

Silence, other than the sound of their chewing...

Then a roar of pure rage sounded from somewhere above them.

"Oh, now what?" Madam Pomfrey growled. "They'll wake up the whole castle!"

Angry voices sounded, growing louder and louder. Harry strained to hear what was being said. They were getting closer...

"He must've Disapparated, Severus. We should have left someone with him-"

"YOU CAN'T DISAPPARATE IN THIS CASTLE!" Snape roared. "THIS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH-"

The door to the ward blasted open and Snape swooped in like the bat he resembled. He was followed by Dumbledore and Fudge. Dumbledore seemed calm, Fudge angry but Snape looked deranged.

"OUT WITH IT POTTER! WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

"Professor Snape!" Madam Pomfrey shrieked, stepping between the crazed man and Harry. "Control yourself!"

"Be reasonable, Snape," Fudge said "The door has been locked since we left a few moments ago."

"THEY HELPED HIM! I KNOW THEY DID!" Snape shrieked, pointing at Hermione and Harry. His face was twisted, purple with wrath.

"OH MY GOD!" All of Snape's screaming had woken up Hope. She sat up, eyes blurry and narrowed. "People make me take sleeping potions I don't want and then when I do take them I can't even enjoy the sleep because someone's yelling like their nudes are all on Facebook!"

Madam Pomfrey quickly placed another potion in her hands, giving her a reproachful look before turning to the group of adults. "You're disturbing my patients! I'm going to have to insist you all leave!"

"Can't have anything nice..." Hope grumbled and quickly downed the new potion. She passed out again, curling into a ball.

"Severus," Dumbledore spoke calmly. "That will do. This door has been locked since I left ten minutes ago. Madam Pomfrey, have either of these children been out of their beds?"

"Of course not, I would have heard them. Now, will you all leave?"

"Well, there you have it, Severus. Unless they are capable of being in two places at once, I'm afraid there's no point of troubling them further," Dumbledore said with a smile.

Snape stood, seething, staring from Fudge who looked shocked at the other man's behavior, to Dumbledore, whose eyes twinkled behind his glasses. Snape whirled on his heel and stomped from the ward.

"Fellow seems unbalanced if you ask me..." Fudge said quietly. "I would watch out for him, if I were you, Dumbledore."

"Oh, he's not unbalanced. He's just suffered a great disappointment. The Order of Merlin must have been quite a loss for him..."

"He's not the only one who's suffered a disappointment! The _Prophet_ is going to have a field day over the fact that we let Black escape again. All I need now is for them to learn that the hippogriff got away as well... I'll be a laughing stock... Well, I'll go alert the Ministry..."

"And the dementors will be sent back to Azkaban?" Dumbledore asked.

"Oh, yes... They'll have to go. To think they nearly put the Kiss on innocent children. Can't control them for..." Fudge grumbled as he left the ward, Dumbledore following. Madam Pomfrey huffed and stormed back to her office, muttering about loud old men.

They were all alone in the ward when Ron finally awoke. He yawned, rubbing his head and looked around. "Where are we? Where's Sirius? Where's Lupin?"

Hermione and Harry looked at each other and began to retell the story just as Hope's snore reached a new octave.

* * *

Hope awoke early that morning in the bright hospital ward. Yawning, she sat up and glanced around. Harry, Ron and Hermione were fast asleep. Not that she was surprised. She had taken a point and no doubt they had spent half of the night talking about whatever it was they were talking about. Her stomach twisted when she recalled the events of the nights before.

Harry had seen her heal... She had healed _him _after he was attacked by a werewolf...

Her eyes snapped to their full limits.

Professor Lupin was a werewolf!

Tossing the covers off of herself, she made her way to the door just as Madam Pomfrey exited her office. "Just where do you think you're going?" the woman asked in a stern whisper.

"Madam Pomfrey... I feel loads better..." Although she did feel a weird twinge in her lower abdomen. "Can I please go? I promise I'll eat three bowls of Choco-Wand cereal at breakfast, and some chocolate milk..."

The older woman stared her down for a few moments but then relented, but only after handed her a large chunk of chocolate. "Eat this, right now, and then you can go."

Hope grudgingly ate the chocolate and was finally released to go. She trudged her way to Gryffindor Tower for a change of clothes. The dorm was deserted, meaning everyone was down for breakfast. She showered and changed into fresh clothes. She noted Parvati's empty bed and felt another twist in her gut over the awful things she had said to the one person who had been on her side. First thing she was going to do was find her and apologize...

She headed down the stairs to the Great Hall, nearly running face first into a group of chattering first year Slytherins. "Watch where you're going, brats!" she hissed at them, narrowing her eyes as one actually flipped her off before running to the dungeons.

Right as she approached the entrance to the hall, something small and dark green hopped past her. She bent down to scoop up the creature just as quick footsteps sounded, getting closer.

"Trevor!"

Neville rushed out of the Hall after his toad, stopping in surprise when he saw Hope holding the protesting amphibian.

"Hey..." she said awkwardly, handing him his toad. Her gut twisted as she recalled how mean she was to him yesterday.

"Hi..."

She shifted on her feet a bit. "Neville... I'm really sorry for being so mean to you yesterday..."

"I-it's all right..." the boy said shyly.

"No, it's not. You got Snape pregnant for me and I was acting like that? So rude."

Neville made a pained face. "Please don't put it like that... Gross..."

Hope blinked and thought about what she said, then burst into giggles. "Sorry... So, are we good?"

"We're good."

"Cool."

"Hey, you didn't hear about Professor Lupin, did you?" Neville asked as she was about to head into the Hall for some food.

Hope froze and turned to the boy. "What about him? Is he okay?"

"He's a werewolf..." he told her, and it was clear he was shocked at the news as well. "The Slytherins have been going on and on about it. Snape told them this morning. And now Lupin's resigning..." Neville added sadly. It was clear that aside from Professor Sprout, Professor Lupin was his favorite teacher and the fact that he was a wolf didn't change that.

"You're kidding me!" She glared up at the staff table and saw it was empty of most of the teachers, including Lupin and Snape. "That... son of a greasy-haired ass bitch!" She whirled on her foot and took off.

When she finally skidded to a stop in front of Lupin's office she was breathing heavily, sweating lightly. However she had found him, half of his things were packed away.

"Don't leave!" she said, rushing forward and gripping the edges of his desk to catch her breath.

The man was startled by her brash entrance but he gave her a small smile. "I'm afraid I have to..." his expression then turned serious and he flicked his wand to the door, shutting it. "... Miss Mikaelson."

The color left her face and it was like the floor dropped from beneath her. How did he-

"Don't worry, your secret dies with me," he said softly.

"How'd..."

"Your question about cursed wolves earlier in the term had me curious. Then, I noticed that the days where I had to take the Wolfsbane Potion coincided with the days you were at your most temperamental. I also checked your record and noticed that for the past two years you almost always seemed to land yourself in detention on the week leading up to a full moon."

He gestured for her to sit, which she did and he resumed packing. "That led me to believe you were one of the wolves thought to be extinct. And then, I had an inkling of who you were once I got wind of Rebekah Mikaelson herself coming to look for Sirius... Hagrid had drunkenly told me when I went to visit him after your final. My guess is that she offered to help to remove the dementors from the school so they wouldn't harm you. Also, the fight between you and Miss Parkinson... I don't know if you knew it at the time, but you had a scratch when I separated you... However, when I returned to speak with you in my office, it was healed. Also, the dementors and the way they had affected you. May I ask, how was your childhood?"

Hope blinked at the weird question. "Um... it was... okay. Nothing too horrible..."

Lupin nodded. "And that there was another clue. The dementors affect Harry they way they do because there are real horrors in his life and his childhood has not been a happy one. Also, they took place when he was at an age when they made an impression on his subconscious, even if he can't fully remember them. Now, you, on the other hand... your childhood was relatively happy... yet the dementors cause you to experience extreme depression while most others only experience a sensation of 'never being cheerful.' To me, that sounds much like heightened emotions brought on by vampirism... Then, there was last night. You actually stopped me from harming Harry."

"How did I do that?" Hope asked wide eyed, eager for some answers. "And when we first met it felt like I knew you."

Lupin paused as he considered his answer. "According to legend, born wolves such as yourself are able to pick up on other wolves, but only after they had triggered the curse. Vampires can't sense wolves, so it may have to do with your witch heritage. Though wolves that are not triggered have been rumored to have some control over their turned counterparts, if they have some sort of familiarity with one another. Considering I've been your teacher for nine months, it's not that far of a stretch. And I can't tell you how glad I am that you did stop me."

Hope could do nothing but stare, open mouthed, in astonishment.

"Now, would you mind telling me about your boggart during the final exam? Would I be correct in assuming that it took the form of yourself committing a murder?"

She didn't speak but the way her head drooped was answer enough.

"I figured as much when you ran from your exam," Lupin said gently before turning serious. "I won't lie to you and say that it won't be difficult, especially with certain people in your vicinity-"

Hope had the impression he was talking about Parkinson and Malfoy when he said that and her lips quirked.

"-but, you must be careful. I cannot stress this enough. You witnessed how I became last night. Unless you want that for yourself, then you _must_ be careful. It really is a curse as your heightened aggression pushes you to trigger it."

The severity of his words hit her more than the warnings her mother had given her.

"Do you really have to quit?" Hope asked sadly. Having him around had been a source of comfort... And now he was leaving right when she found out what he was...

"Yes, I'm afraid so..."

"Is it because of that Umbridge bit-" she bit her tongue.

"You've been reading _The Prophet_ I take it..." he said though his face darkened at the mention of the woman.

"Yes, during Christmas... And you really can't find a job anywhere?" Hope asked fuming.

"I'm afraid not... But, don't you worry about me Hope. I'm sure we'll see each other again. Now, you best go and enjoy this day..." He stood and opened the door for her.

Hope slowly exited the office, however she stopped and turned. "Remember when you were talking to me and Parvati... and you said that Voldemort would've killed me if he believed the rumor? Why would he?"

Lupin gave her a sigh. "Because... he was a tyrannical monster... he would have seen you as competition..." She opened her mouth to question more but he stopped her. "Now, I have to finish packing, and if I'm not mistaken, there's a Hogsmeade trip today."

He escorted her out of his office, Hope's chest tightening at the thought of him leaving. He was the only wolf she had ever met face to face and he was leaving...

The man seemed to notice her inner turmoil. Placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, Lupin gave her a gentle smile. "I'm only an owl away if you ever need anything... Now, go on and enjoy this lovely weather. Also, if I'm not mistaken, you have a couple of apologies to make..."

The knowledge that she could owl him cheered her up a bit, and she left the man to his packing. Inwardly, she huffed and wondered why they could never keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for more than a year. Maybe the rumors were right and the position was cursed.

Hope paused by the windows in the hall, debating on whether or not she should head to Hogsmeade... Then Professor Lupin's earlier words came back to her.

She really did have more apologizing to do...

* * *

"Well, I'm going to be sad that he's leaving... He was the best DADA teacher we've ever had..."

"I bet Snape just told the Slytherins because he's mad that Lupin is better looking than him..."

"The giant squid is better looking than Snape..."

Parvati and Lavender had just taken a seat at a table at the Three Broomsticks, both lamenting about the loss of their second favorite teacher. The news that Professor Lupin was actually a werewolf had shocked them, however they didn't believe that was cause to fire him and were now taking savage pleasure in ripping apart Snape.

"Oh! That's what his boggart was the first day of class! The full moon! I thought he was afraid of crystal balls..." Lavender said once the realization came to her.

Parvati laughed at that and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence as they perused the menu.

"Are you and Hope ever going to make up?" Lavender asked suddenly.

Parvati flinched but said nothing. Lavender sighed sadly behind her menu.

"Parv... You two should make up... and I'm sure she's really sorry... It just doesn't feel the same without her. Hermione and Fey are nice, but don't tell me that you don't miss Hope's awful jokes, especially when it comes to Slytherin..."

Parvati's lips twitched a bit but she still didn't say anything. Lavender opened her mouth to say something else but stopped when Madam Rosmerta arrived at their table and placed a glass of iced gillywater with pomegranate seeds in front of Parvati, along with a turkey sandwich and fries.

"Ohh, I didn't order this..." Parvati said.

Madam Rosmerta pointed at the bar. "That young lady ordered it and said to bring it to you."

Parvati and Lavender looked to where she was pointing to see a nervous and sorrowful Hope perched on one of the stools.

Parvati swallowed and then let out a small yelp at the kick she received from Lavender. "Lav!"

"Go talk to her," Lavender said sternly, and for good measure, took Parvati's plate away from her.

Huffing, Parvati grabbed her drink and slid onto the stool next to Hope. There was an awkward silence which Hope broke.

"I was going to go with butterbeer, but it's too hot for that. Like cocoa on a summer day. Just a bad idea..." she then swallowed. "Parv... I'm _so_ sorry about all that crap I said... you're not stupid. You're my best friend and I've been an ungrateful little bitch and I'm _really_ sorry..."

Parvati was silent for a while before taking a sip of her drink. "This's actually really good... Thank you for the drink... And... I had heard you were in the hospital wing this morning... I went to see you but you had already left... I figured you were... talking with Professor Lupin... Have you heard about him?"

"Yeah, Neville told me... I apologized to him, too."

Parvati nodded and took another sip of her drink. "I heard Black had you, Harry, Ron and Hermione Confunded... That's what Padma told me... I didn't tell Lavender. She would've freaked... I was really worried about you..."

Hope shifted guiltily. "Where'd she hear that?"

"Cedric... He heard it from Professor Sprout..."

Hope sighed. "Sometimes, I think the teachers are bigger gossips than we are..."

Now Parvati actually smiled. "You'd be right..." She then lowered her voice. "What actually happened?"

Hope slid off the stool. "Want to take a walk? It's too many people here..."

Parvati slid off as well. "Let me get a to-go box..."

Hope glanced behind Parvati and gave an exasperated sigh. "You'd better hurry... Lavender looks like she's about to make short work of your sandwich..."

Parvati whirled around just as Lavender was raising the sandwich to her mouth. "Lav! Drop it!"

The two girls took packed up and Lavender said she would stay behind to get something to eat, though they both knew it was to give them privacy to talk. Though right as they left, Hope noticed Seamus slipping into the seat next to Lavender.

"Think there's something going on there?" Hope asked absently.

"Wouldn't shock me..." Parvati replied.

* * *

When Harry awoke, it was well past noon. Sitting up, he pulled on his glasses and looked around to see Ron and Hermione waking up as well, however Hope's bed was empty.

"Madam Pomfrey, where'd she go?" Harry asked.

"She was cleared this morning..." the woman told him. "She's probably at Hogsmeade now... Her friend, Parvati Patil, dropped by to look for her but she had already gone."

Harry had a sneaking suspicion that the girl was avoiding him after last night.

The trio was cleared to leave the hospital, only after eating another helping of chocolate. The castle was nearly deserted and neither Ron nor Hermione wanted to head to Hogsmeade after the events of last night. Instead they roamed the grounds, talking excitedly about the events of last night. Harry, however, refrained from mentioning what had happened with Hope... What he had seen her do... What she had done for him...

Putting that from his mind for the time being, Harry instead focused on Sirius and Buckbeak... He wondered where they were now...

A shadow fell across them and they looked up to see a bleary-eyed, beaming Hagrid. "Know I shouldn' feel happy, after wha' happened with Black escapin' again... But, guess what?

"What?" Harry asked, doing his best to look mildly curious.

"Beaky escaped! Must not o' tied 'im up right... But, he pulled 'imself free! I was worried at first... thought he might've ran into Professor Lupin, but he told me he never ate anythin' last night-"

"What?!" Harry sat up, shocked.

Hagrid sobered a bit at the startled look on Harry's face. "Thought yeh would o' heard by now... Erm... Well, Professor Lupin's a werewolf... Snape told all the Slytherins this mornin'. He, Lupin rather, was loose on the grounds last night. He's packin' now-"

"Why?!" Harry shouted, starting to his feet.

"Leavin', isn't he? Says 'e can't risk it happenin' again. Resigned first thing this morning."

Harry broke into a run toward the castle. "I'll see you all later!" he called to the group.

"But, Harry-" Hermione started but he ignored her. He had to see him

He ran as fast as he could, skidding to a stop outside of Lupin's office which was open. Most of the man's things were packed and the grindylow tank was empty, sitting next to a battered old suitcase. Lupin was at his desk, staring intently at something and looked up when Harry knocked.

"I saw you coming..." He pointed to the Marauder's Map.

"Hagrid said you're resigning... It's not true, is it?" Harry asked.

"I'm afraid it is. Hope was in here earlier. She tried to persuade me to stay, but I can't." Lupin was now tossing the remainder of his things into his suitcase.

"But... the Ministry doesn't think you were helping Sirius, do they?"

"No, Professor Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge that I was trying to save your lives. I'm betting that was the final straw for Severus. I think the loss of the Order of Merlin was a hard hit to him. He... _accidentally_ let it slid to the Slytherins that I'm a werewolf during breakfast."

"But... you're the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had! Don't go..." Harry pleaded.

Lupin smiled sadly. "I'm afraid I must. By this time tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents. They will not want a werewolf teaching their children. And after last night, I can't blame them. I nearly bit you, Harry... That must never happen again. It's just lucky that I was stopped..."

Harry's eyes widened as he remembered. "Hope stopped you! How did she?"

"I think it's best if she tell you that, Harry..." was all Lupin said.

Harry recognized when a subject was closed. But, that didn't stop him from trying to think of a good argument to keep the man here. Luckily, Lupin spoke.

"From what the headmaster told me this morning, you saved many lives last night. If I'm proud of anything, it's how much you learned this year. Tell me about your Patronus."

Harry blinked. "How'd you know about that?"

"What else could've driven the dementors back?" Lupin countered.

Harry told Lupin what had happened, and when he was done Lupin was smiling. "Yes, your father was always a stag when he transformed... You guess right. That's why we called him Prongs."

Lupin then threw the last of his things into the case, closed the drawers and turned to look at Harry.

"Here. I brought this from the Shrieking Shack last night," he said as he handed Harry the Invisibility Cloak. "And also..." he hesitated for a moment but soon held out the Marauder's Map. "I am no longer your teacher, so I do not feel guilty about giving this back to you. It's of no use to me and I am certain you and your friends will find uses for it."

Harry took the Map back happily. "You said that Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs would've wanted to lure me out of the school... that they'd have thought it funny."

"And so we would have..." Lupin said "I have no hesitation in thinking James would have been highly disappointed if his son did not find any of the secret passages out of Hogwarts..."

Harry pondered on that for a moment but stopped when he recalled something. "Er... Professor... On the map, I noticed that Hope's last name wasn't what we all call her. Is there a reason for that?"

Lupin froze for a moment but then smiled. "Well, yes... The map does recognize official name changes... If someone's last name was different, it would mean that there was an issue surrounding it."

That brought Harry back to his earlier theory of a custody battle and he let that go. However, he was about to ask a different question when another knock sounded at the door. Harry quickly stuffed the Map and Cloak in his pocket.

It was Professor Dumbledore. He didn't seem to be surprised that Harry was there.

"Your carriage is here, Remus," he said.

"Thank you, Headmaster."

Lupin picked up his things and the empty tank. "Well... goodbye, Harry. It has been a real pleasure teaching you. I feel sure that we'll meet again someday. Headmaster, there is no need to see me out. I'll manage..."

Lupin then hurried from the classroom, giving Harry the impression that he wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

"Goodbye..." Harry said glumly as the last remaining vestige of his father left. He heard the door close then, and looked up. Dumbledore was still there.

"Why so miserable, Harry?" the man asked quietly. "You should feel very proud of yourself after last night..."

"It didn't make any difference. Pettigrew still got away..." Harry said bitterly.

"Didn't make any difference?" Dumbledore asked, still quietly. "It made all the difference in the world, Harry. You helped uncover the truth. You saved an innocent man from a terrible fate."

_Terrible._ Something stirred in Harry's memory. _Great and more terrible than ever before. _"Professor! Yesterday I had my final exam with Professor Trelawney and she was... strange..."

"Really?" Dumbledore asked "Stranger... er... than usual."

Harry quickly launched into explanation and when he was done, he was surprised to see Dumbledore was smiling.

"I do believe that this brings her total number of true predictions up to two. I might have to offer her a pay raise..."

Harry was aghast. How could the headmaster take this so calmly? "I stopped Sirius and Professor Lupin from killing Sirius! That makes it my fault if Voldemort comes back!"

"It does not..." Dumbledore said. "Hasn't you experience with the Time-Turner taught you anything, Harry? The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed... Professor Trelawney, bless her, is living proof of that. You did a very noble thing, sparing Pettigrew's life."

Harry thought of all the predictions Hope had made over the year, and found that, except for one, she had been quite right if not vague about the details.

"But..." Harry began, bringing his mind back to the topic at hand. "If it helps bring Voldemort back to power..."

"Pettigrew owes his life to you, Harry. When one wizard or witch saves another's life, it creates a certain bond between them. Think of how close Miss Patil and Miss Mitchell have become since Christmas. Harry, I believe I am very much mistaken if Voldemort wants his servant in the debt of Harry Potter."

"I don't want a connection to Pettigrew!" Harry declared hotly. "He betrayed my family!"

"This is magic at its most impenetrable, Harry... Trust me, the time may come when you will be very glad you saved Pettigrew's life..."

Harry pondered on that, not able to imagine when that day would come. Dumbledore looked as if he knew what the boy was thinking.

"I knew your father quite well, Harry. Both at Hogwarts as well as out of it. He would've saved Pettigrew, too. I am sure of it."

Harry looked up at him. He knew Dumbledore wouldn't laugh...

"I thought it was my dad who'd cast the Patronus instead of me... I mean, when I saw myself across the lake..."

"An easy mistake to make," Dumbledore said gently. "I expect you will grow tired of hearing it soon, but, you do look exceptionally like James... Except for your eyes... You have your mother's eyes."

Harry shook his head, fighting the swell of emotion within him. "It was stupid... thinking I was him..."

"You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us?" the man countered. "You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when have need of him How else could you have produced that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night."

Harry, for his part, goggled at what Dumbledore had said. The man simply smiled. "Last nigh Sirius had told me how they became Animagi. An extraordinary achievement, especially keeping it from me. And then I remembered the most unusual form your Patronus took when it charged Mr. Malfoy down at your Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. You know, Harry in a way, you did see your father last night. You found him inside yourself."

Dumbledore then swept from the room, leaving the boy alone with his confused thoughts.

* * *

At around six o'clock, Harry had found himself in the common room alone. Ron and Hermione had went down to dinner, and while he had joined them, he didn't stay. It was around that time that the others had returned from their Hogsmeade trip.

Seamus and Lavender had entered together though they parted to get ready for the feast. Also, Harry noted, Parvati and Hope had entered together as well. They must've made up.

Hope's blue eyes landed on Harry and he thought he saw her pale. But, she said nothing to him and turned to head into the girl's dorms with her friend. Harry fumed at this obvious snub and stormed to his dorm.

During dinner, he had tried to get a word in with her but Cho had dragged him to the Ravenclaw table. It didn't seem to matter either way. Hope had then disappeared from the table with Fred.

As the days went on, he had tried to find way to get alone with Hope. However, she had kept finding clever ways to dodge him. But, considering all that was going on in the school, he found he was hard pressed to pay attention to what Hope was doing.

Non one at the school knew the truth of what had happened with Sirius, Lupin and Pettigrew except for Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hope and Professor Dumbledore. The school had many different theories but none came close to the truth.

Malfoy was furious about Buckbeak. He was convinced that Hagrid had found a way to smuggle the hippogriff to safety, and seemed outraged that he and his father had been outwitted by a gamekeeper. He tried ranting about this to Pansy Parkinson, but she usually found reasons to leave the Great Hall and away from the confused blond boy.

"Still bet she's cheating..." Hope muttered from her spot next to Fred.

"With what?" the boy countered before becoming absorbed in a conversation with George.

Meanwhile, Percy Weasley had much to say on the subject of Sirius's escape and told the only one who would listen. His girlfriend, Penelope.

"If I manage to get into the Ministry, I'll have a lot of proposals to make about Magical Law Enforcement-"

"Oh, shut up!" Penelope hissed one day, much to the delight of Fred and George. "All you do is talk about _your _ideas and never once ask me about what _I may be doing!"_

As the days passed and the weather became increasingly more lovely, Harry couldn't have been in worse spirits. For one moment he had thought that he would get to escape the hell that was his aunt and uncle's house...

And he wasn't the only one who was upset to see Lupin leave. The whole of his Defense Against the Dark Arts class was sad to see the man leave.

"Wonder what they'll give us next year..." Seamus said gloomily from next to Lavender Brown.

"Maybe a vampire?" Dean Thomas asked hopefully, not noticing Parvati Patil's flinch.

The days wore on, and Harry found, to his immense annoyance, was unable to find a moment alone with Hope to discuss what had happened in the forest. But, more than that, he was upset about Trelawney's prediction... He kept wondering where Pettigrew was now, whether he had sought out sanctuary with Voldemort yet. But, the thing that was truly lowering Harry's spirits was the thought that for a few, glorious moments, he would have been free of the Dursleys. He would have been living with his father's best friend...

The last day of term was when the results of exams finally came in. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had passed every subject. Harry had an inkling that Dumbledore had intervened, keeping Snape from failing them all in Potions. Snape's behavior toward Harry had been most discomforting. Harry wouldn't have thought it possible, but the man seemed to hate him more than before. Each time he looked at Harry, it was with a baleful glare and his hands twitched as if itching to wrap themselves around Harry's throat.

Percy earned top grade NEWTs while Fred and George earned a few OWLs apiece. Gryffindor House earned the House Cup for the third year running, mainly due to their spectacular performance in the Quidditch championship match. This meant that the hangings of the Great Hall were gold and scarlet. Hope, much to the amusement of the rest of the Gryffindors, had painted her face like a red and gold harlequin as per usual. As everyone celebrated, even Harry was ale to forget about the journey to the Dursley's the next day...

* * *

As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station the next morning, Hermione gave Harry and Ron some surprising news.

"I went to see Professor McGonagall and I've returned the Time-Turner. Also, I've dropped Muggle Studies."

"But, you passed the exam with three hundred and twenty percent!" Ron exclaimed.

"Is this because Padma Patil beat you with three hundred and fifty percent?" Harry asked and Hermione bristled.

"No! Why on earth would you think that!? And where did you hear that?"

"From Cho at breakfast... She said Padma actually beat you... The Ravenclaws are supposed to be throwing a party for her in one of the compartments of the train right now...

Hermione was silent for a few moments, clearly seething, before she answered "As I was _saying_, I can't stand another year like this one. That Time-Turner was driving me mad. I've handed it in and without Muggle Studies and Divination, I'll be able to have a normal schedule."

"...still can't believe you didn't tell us," Ron grumbled with a glare at Hermione, "We're supposed to be your friends."

"I said I wouldn't tell _anyone_, Ron," Hermione said to the redhead before turning to Harry who was looking decidedly glum. "Oh, Harry... cheer up..."

"I'm fine..." Harry said quickly "Just thinking about the holidays..."

"So, what happened? How'd Padma Patil beat you?" Ron asked and Hermione huffed.

"We were supposed to bring in Muggle music... Padma Patil brought in a record of music from the 'Roaring Twenties' which is well and good... but, where on earth did she get that ridiculous Flapper girl dress?"

Hope, who had been passing by, broke into snickers. "That explains so much!" she cried to Parvati.

Harry shot to his feet this time. He wasn't letting her escape and there were only so many places one could escape on a train. He followed her toward the back. She had parted from Parvati, who had disappeared to the Ravenclaw party for her sister. Harry paused to glance in the compartment and his eyes widened. _Were those streamers?And were those a couple of Slytherins in there?_

Shaking his head, he followed Hope into the small room where she had disappeared. She whirled around, face red. "Harry, what the hell!?" she hissed.

"You've been avoiding me for two weeks!" Harry countered.

"Dude, this is the girls' bathroom. What if I dropped my drawers right when you walked in?" Hope growled.

Harry refused to be embarrassed and took a page from her book. "Then I'd leave, after the past two weeks, I've had enough of full moons."

Hope went a darker shade of red. "Wha- I- You pig!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Harry waved her embarrassment away and leaned against the wall. "Are you going to tell me what happened that night?"

Hope fidgeted and twiddled her thumbs. "Can we talk about this in a compartment and not in a small bathroom?" she grumbled.

Harry eyed her shrewdly. "Fine..."

He turned to open the door and found himself face to face with Lavender Brown, whose hand was raised to knock on the door. Her eyes widened in surprise as they darted from him to Hope, smile spreading on her mouth. "Ohhhh..."

"Lav!" Hope fumed and stormed out of the bathroom to chase after her friend who had rushed to a compartment. "It's so not what you think!"

Harry had a small sinking feeling but didn't acknowledge it too much. He simply exited the bathroom and followed after Hope, who was busy shuffling Dean and Lavender from a compartment. "Go to the Ravenclaw party. I'll see you in a bit."

"I don't want to go in there," Lavender huffed.

"Yeah, really. There're Slytherins in there. Ugh," Parvati gagged.

"Seamus is in there..." Hope singsonged at Lavender who blushed. Dean conceded.

"Oh, all right... for a few minutes then..."

The two then exited and once they were down the hall of the train, Harry eased into the compartment. He took a spot near the window just as Hope had shut the door.

"So..." the girl shuffled awkwardly.

"Right..." Harry cleared his throat, not knowing where to begin.

"So... what do you know about cursed wolves?" Hope began suddenly.

"Eh?" Where he had heard that term before?

"So... remember when Hermione and I got into that argument about cursed wolves when Snape was covering for Professor Lupin...?"

Harry nodded and she sighed.

"I'm... one of them... I was born with a werewolf gene... on both of my parents side... on full moons, or nights leading up to the full moon... I get really..." she gave a one shouldered shrug "cranky and bitchy, for lack of a better word... because I haven't triggered the curse yet... I can't transform until I do..."

Harry's brows rose as he took that in. Of all the things he was expecting, that wasn't one of them. When he thought about it, all of the times that Lupin was sick, she would be extremely volatile.

"How do you trigger it?" Harry asked, eyes wide.

Hope swallowed and when she spoke, it was very quietly. "I have to kill someone..."

Harry's heart gave a jolt behind her ribcage, and he recalled her holiday. "I'm guessing vampires don't count..."

"No... it has to be a human."

"So... that's why you're able to heal?" he asked. "And... how you were able to heal me?"

"Mhm..." she nodded, though she glanced away as if nervous about something.

Well, that explained the cold shoulder she had been giving Ron after he had made those remarks about werewolves in the Shrieking Shack. Harry's mind flashed to when she nearly knocked that suit of armor on top of Pansy Parkinson. As well as the other fights she had over the years. He then recalled how she had fed him her blood and it healed him. "But... you..."

"I'm not contagious... and Harry, you _can't_ tell anyone."

She was looking at him so pleadingly, her blue eyes wide. On autopilot, he reached forward and placed a hand over hers to comfort her. "I won't say anything, I promise. You saved me back there..."

Hope gave a half smile. "Thanks..."

"Still, though... I get the feeling Hermione might of figured it out. When you fought Millicent Bulstrode, it seemed like she wanted to say something..." Harry said with a small shrug then continued seriously "Well, you won't have to worry about anything... She'll be quiet about it and so will I. You saved my life twice... With the blood and keeping Lupin off me... I'm not going to let you kill anyone..."

The way he had made the declaration was so final, so serious, that Hope actually looked away and Harry flushed a little in embarrassment. However, she then looked up with a smile. "Thanks..."

"There's more, isn't there?" Harry asked.

"Well..." she began only to stop. "Harry, what's that?"

Harry looked up as she pointed to his window. Something small and feathery was bobbing in and out of sight beyond the glass. He stood for a better look and saw that t was a tiny owl, carrying a letter that was much too big for it. The owl was so small tat it kept tumbling over in the air. Harry quickly opened the window and stuck his arm out to catch the small, gray owl as if it were fluffy Snitch. He brought it carefully inside and the owl dropped the letter in Harry's lap. The owl began zooming around their compartment, apparently leased with itself for accomplishing its task.

Harry picked up the letter. It was addressed to him. He ripped open the letter and his eyes widened. "It's from Sirius!"

"What?" Hope moved to sit next to him, reading over his shoulder.

_Dear Harry, _

_I hope this letter finds you before you reach your aunt and uncle. I don't know whether or not they are used to owl post. _

_Buckbeak and I are in hiding and I won't tell you where in case this owl is intercepted. I am worried about its reliability, but he did seem eager for the job. _

_I believe the dementors are still searching for me, but they haven't a hope of finding me here. I am planning on letting a few muggles spot me soon, a long way from Hogwarts, so that the security from the castle will be lifted. Also, so that vampire will be able to enjoy her actual life instead of worrying about dementors..._

Hope hurriedly shoved a Cauldron Cake in her mouth as she read that line.

_... There is something I never got around to telling you during our brief meeting. I was the one who sent you the Firebolt-_

"Huh, Hermione was right..." Harry muttered.

"Still the reason you can't have nice things..." Hope said cheekily and earned an elbow from Harry for it.

_Crookshanks took the order to the Owl Office for me. I used your name but told them to take the gold from my own Gringotts vault. Please consider it as thirteen birthdays' worth of presents from your godfather. _

_I would also like to apologize for the fright I believe I gave you the night you left you aunt and uncle's. I had only wanted to get a glimpse of you before I starting my journey north, but I think the sight of me alarmed you. _

_I am enclosing something else for you, which I think will make your next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable. _

_If you ever need me, send word. Your owl will find me. _

_I'll write again soon._

_Sirius._

_Harry looked inside the envelope. There was another piece of parchment inside. He read it and suddenly felt as warm as if he had swallowed a whole bottle of butterbeer in one go. _

_I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, hereby give him permission to visit Hogsmeade on weekends. _

"Awesome!" Hope cheered.

"That'll be good enough for Dumbledore!" Harry said happily then stopped when he saw the P.S.

_I thought that your friend Ron might like to keep this owl, as it's my fault he no longer has a rat. _

"He'll be pleased," Harry said as he watched the small owl twitter about the compartment.

"Wait... what happened when we went after Sirius?" Hope asked. "I remember the dementors... then... I couldn't move and..."

"I paralyzed you..." Harry told her. "You were about to... like last time and I..."

Hope eyes wide could barely find her voice. "Oh..." she said finally, eyes wide with shock. Harry then told her of what happened after she passed out as well as his adventure with the Time-Turner. Once he was finished, she was gaping at him with her mouth hanging open.

"So... you pretty much saved me twice..." she said quietly after he told the tale of his Patronus.

Harry scratched the back of his head, face flushing under her close scrutiny. However, he then startled when she latched her arms around him in gratitude. "Gah! Hope, gerroff!"

Hope had let go but was still beaming at him. "Harry... thank you!"

"It's nothing... you saved me," he told her again, seriously.

The air between them changed, the atmosphere charged. Green met blue and Hope was the first to look away.

"I erm... I need to change into my muggle stuff..."

Harry suddenly felt that was a very good idea. He stood, grabbing the small owl as he did so. "Right... I'd better let Ron know he has an owl..." He started to leave the compartment but she stopped him.

"Harry..."

"Yeah?"

"Did... did you tell Dumbledore about me?" she asked suddenly.

"No," he said, slightly insulted that she'd think he would.

"Okay, cool..."

"Did you tell Parvati about Sirius? I noticed you two were friends again..."

"No!"

"Okay, cool..." he mirrored her. She smiled.

"I'm still baking you a cake for your birthday."

Harry smirked. "I was going to hold you to that regardless..."

Hope decided it was time to kill the thick atmosphere of the room. "Y'know, I'm glad you have him to write to, Sirius. Know why?" she asked and Harry sighed.

"Why?" he asked, knowing something stupid was going to come out of her mouth.

"Now you finally have someone to talk to about girls. I was sick of doing it!"

"Oh, screw you!" He left and Hope grinned before shutting the compartment to change. She could vaguely make out the exclamations of Hermione and Ron. Harry must've shown them the letter.

She had just pulled on her black jeans from her aunt as well as one of her Sailor Moon shirts when Parvati and Lavender rushed back into the compartment.

"Hope, you missed it!" Parvati cheered.

"What now?"

"Malfoy and Parkinson had another row... if they're still together by Halloween, I'll eat an entire bin of frogspawn," Lavender said sagely.

"I'll take that bet," Hope said as she hopped into her seat.

"Speaking of relationships, where's Fred?" Parvati asked suddenly.

Hope shrugged. "He's been hanging out with his brother and Lee, a lot."

She failed to noticed Lavender and Parvati's meaningful glances with each other. However, Lavender hopped onto a new subject.

"I just saw Cho Chang leave the Ravenclaw party... she shoved her way into Harry Potter's compartment with the others..."

"As long as she's not eying my sister's boyfriend, I don't care," Parvati said easily.

Hope said nothing and pulled out one of her many paperbacks.

The train soon entered King's Cross station and as Hope bounded off the train, she tried to keep her expression as one of happiness though she couldn't help but eye her aunt shrewdly as she made her way to the vampire. Why didn't she tell Hope about her aiding Dumbledore? Would she have to come up with something creative to keep the blond from searching for Sirius?

Rebekah noticed Hope and smiled widely; she made her way toward the girl, passing a brunette woman who was in the company of her extremely large husband. The couple had been edging away from an older, redheaded couple whom Hope knew as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Fred's parents who had no idea about her... awkward... time to go.

She watched as the Weasleys hugged their children and Harry, noting the way the other couple bristled.

"I'll call about the World Cup!" Ron called after Harry as the Weasley's turned a corner, though Hope and Fred made certain not look at each other so they wouldn't arouse parental suspicion.

Hope had one arm wrapped around her aunt's waist. They were about to leave however the couple from before, in a clear hurry to get out of the station, bumped hard into Rebekah yet seemed to think it was _her _fault, not their own.

"So rude! No manners at all, and look at how she's dressed. Hardly better than a common trollip," the woman muttered under her breath as she glared after Rebekah.

Rebekah froze, left Hope's side and marched back to the woman, giving her an icy smile. "I'm sorry... I'm used to the manure coming from the back end of a horse, not the front."

Hope stopped in her tracks, face alight with giddy surprise. There was a laughing cough from nearby and she blinked when she saw Harry trying to muffle his cackles in his oversized jacket. Were these two the awful aunt and uncle he had told her about?

"Wh-what did you say?" the man growled at Rebekah who merely rolled her eyes.

"Now, sir, mind your blood pressure," she said to the man, much to Harry's amusement. The woman's eyes then flicked to Harry. "Hope, do you know him?" she asked.

"Ahh..." Hope could barely speak for giggling. "This is Harry Potter, he's in my year."

The couple backed away even more as they realized Hope was a witch. Rebekah's eyes seemed to lght with curiosity as she studied the boy. "Ahh, yes... Hope's told me about you..." she held her hand out for him to shake, which he did. "I'm her Aunt Rebekah," she then turned to Hope with a smile "You're right, Hope. He does have very lovely eyes."

Both Harry and Hope turned bright red at that and Hope spluttered. "Aunt Bex! Oh my god, I'm hungry!" she hurriedly tugged the blond away from the flustered Harry. "Bye, Harry..." they were soon in the parking lot and in a van, driving away.

"Er... bye?" he said, still clutching Sirius's letter, insides squirming as he tried not to feel too pleased. _Hope thinks I have pretty eyes..._

"What's that?" Uncle Vernon snarled, eying the letter in Harry's hand. "If that's another ruddy form for me to sign then you can forget it-"

"Oh, no... it's just a letter from my godfather," Harry said cheerfully.

"Godfather? You haven't got a godfather!" Uncle Vernon said suspiciously.

"Sure, I do," Harry said brightly. "He was my mum and dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though... check if I'm happy..."

And, grinning broadly at the look of horror on Uncle Vernon's face, Harry set off toward the exit, Hedwig rattling along in front of him. His uncle had been scared witless... he had a godfather, a girlfriend and he might go to the Quidditch World Cup! This summer was looking up!

"See you in September, Ernie! Hannah!" Harry waved to the Hufflepuffs in his year.

The blonde boy and girl waved back. They then separated and she headed off with her mother toward the exit.

They never noticed the rat that jumped from the Hufflepuff's bag.

Never noticed when it disappeared in the sewers to converse with the other rodents it met there.

The dank sewers were filled with the squeaks of the rats as he spoke with them. He had to run... They knew he was alive... He needed protection...

"So, you're Peter?"

The voice came from nowhere, causing the rat to let out a terrified squeak. He started to run down the dark, damp sewer.

"Don't be afraid of me," the voice said silkily though whether it was in his ears or head, he had no clue. "I only want to help you... I understand you're looking for someone... Would you mind if I joined you?"

**OKAY! Third year is over! My lord, this chapter was a BEAST! If it were a Pokemon card, it would be 250 XP strong! Now, for the craziness that is fourth year. Try not to hate me too much for where I plan on going with this. It won't really stick to the show much, though I've stated that before. I'm not much for the way the writers are taking it... So I'm going to be taking some MAJOR creative license when it comes to some things. **

**So sorry about the delay. Don't you love real life drama? Oh, also, I have rewritten chapters 3 through 11 so if you could tell me what you think, that would be lovely. Chapter 6 shows more of Hope's Hogwarts journey as well as the Welcome Feast. And, I'm also working on a collection of one-shots featuring some of the crossover couples that have been mentioned. The first one to be up soon will be Minerva/Elijah followed by Phineas/Rebekah. **


	23. Chapter 23

**I'm back and I'm here with the first installment of year four. Also, a reviewer was curious as to why was I now hooking Harry and Hope up after the madness with Cho and Fred. It mainly has to do with what I consider realism. I'm not, nor was I ever, one for the fluffy 'One True Love' stories without at least having to have a few failed relationships along the way, either serious long-terms or a few short WTFs and failed dates. I don't mind reading them, but I just can't bring myself to write them. I believe, just like you usually have some bad jobs before obtaining your dream career, same goes with love, at least in my opinion. Plus, they're fourteen and in school. They've got to endure the teen drama along with the magical apocalypse. Now, on with the show! :D**

_Hope was standing on a high balcony, the floor beneath her was marble, as was the railing that she was holding onto. Her eyes lifted to the sky and she sighed at the bright stars and beautiful full moon that shone from above. All was peaceful and nice here. _

_Then, it wasn't. _

_Hope felt, more than saw, the meteor that streaked from the sky to hurtle down towards the earth. She watched it, horrified, as it crashed straight into the foundation of the building she stood in. She turned to run as she heard the walls crack. She had to get out of here._

_But there was a strange sound now; like something sliding across the floor. Something cold and heavy slid over her foot and she looked down, shrieking at the sight of the snake. Its muscular body was gliding across the marble floor, it wound itself around Hope's ankles and she lost her balance, hitting the floor hard. She struggled to get up, only to find herself face to face with the reptile. _

_She opened her mouth to scream just as it reared back to strike. The scaly diamond pattern in the middle of it's head shifted, changing to a seven pointed star. The ground shook. The building around her was now on fire. She could smell the smoke..._

A sharp pain, loud screeching, and shrill beeping had Hope's eyes snapping open. There was rapid fluttering and another sharp pain along her cheek.

"Ow! Nik, what the hell?!" she cried. Her owl had actually scratched her awake! She shot to her feet then stopped when she smelled the smoke.

Holy shit, did she accidental magic again?

The frantic owl was fluttering around her, screeching to get her attention. He then zoomed toward the kitchen where the smoke was thickest.

"Oh, shit!"

Hope rushed forward and opened the oven to retrieve her now carbonized cake. She grabbed an oven glove and pulled out the pan. "Urgh..." The pan was done for and what was supposed to be a yummy Angel Food cake was now nothing but a piece of charcoal. Thank goodness Aunt Bex was on a blood run.

_This is what happens when you try to cook and do homework at the same time... You fall asleep and nearly burn the house down. _

"Great..." She opened the windows to air out the kitchen after she tossed the pan; she then turned to the owl. "Thanks for the wake up..."

Nik gave an exasperated hoot in reply before his head perked up with interest, turning toward the opened window. Hope followed his gaze and her eyes widened in surprise. "Hedwig!"

The snowy owl glided into the smoky kitchen, then to the dining room where there was little smoke. Hope followed her, along with Nik, and was amused to see her owl trying to inch closer to Hedwig. Judging by the annoyed clicking of her beak, Hedwig was having none of it.

"Nik, she's not interested."

Nik gave her a look that plainly said 'no one asked you' before turning back to the snowy owl. Hedwig had now turned her back to him.

"Oh jeez... Hedwig, do you have a letter for me?" Hope asked, exasperated.

The snowy owl turned to her, there was no letter tied to Hedwig's leg. Was she here to play hard to get with Nik? The owl's amber eyes were giving Hope a blatant look as if she should know what Hedwig was trying to tell her. When Hope just stared blankly, Hedwig gave an annoyed click of her beak and grudgingly turned to Nik and gave him a small hoot.

"Nik, what does your girlfriend want?" Hope demanded.

Nik looked pleased at what his mistress said though Hedwig gave her an annoyed screech. However, Nik then glided into the kitchen, which was still smoky, and fluttered near the calendar, his claw making a line through the last day of the current month. July thirty-first.

"Oh!" Hope turned to the owl. "You're making sure I give Harry a present?"

Hedwig gave a click of her beak and Hope giggled, giving her some owl treats. She had been putting off making the promised cake until his birthday as she wanted it to be fresh for big day. The other cake, the burned one, had been for herself. "That won't be a problem. I'm going to make him a cake..."

Nik now glanced at the carbonized lump that was in the garbage, then threw a skeptical look at his mistress. Hope fumed. "Shut up, Nik! That was an accident!" She then set about pulling out the ingredients for a new cake.

It had been weeks since Hope had returned home from Hogwarts and it was rare these days that Hope was actually at home if she could help it. Things at home had become insanely awkward between herself and Aunt Bex.

Once she had returned home from King's Cross, Rebekah had ripped into her horribly. Apparently the vampire had found out about what the dementors had done to Hope at the Quidditch match and was furious that Hope did not inform her. Hope had been hard pressed not to lose her temper and snap out that Rebekah had been guilty of keeping secrets as well.

Her aunt had been searching for Sirius Black. Hope had been so close to blurting out that she knew, but stopped herself. That would've brought up questions about how she knew, which would've led to the fact that she had met the man, knew he was innocent, but couldn't tell Rebekah. Then there was the whole fact that Parvati knew she was a werewolf. She had purposely neglected to tell Rebekah that as well... or the fact that Parvati wasn't the only one. Harry knew as well, and possibly Hermione. And Sirius... And Lupin...

All and all, she had been trying to avoid her aunt as much as she could, mainly due to the awkward guilt of lying as well as the anger that Rebekah had been keeping things from her. Irrational, yeah... But, whatever.

Rebekah must have felt it though, because she had bought Hope a new tablet for no reason, probably to ease the tension with material possessions. Clearly forgetting that Hope already had one, the same exact one actually. Hope had taken it graciously but hadn't opened it. Honestly, what was the point? It was like having two Victoria's Secret bras of the exact same size, style and color...

Sighing, Hope cracked an egg into a bowl with one hand, and turned on her playlist with the other, selecting Madonna's 'Vogue' to cook by. Hedwig had flown from the dining room to perch on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. Hope raised a brow "Are you actually waiting for me to finish the cake?"

Hedwig hooted affirmatively.

Hope sighed and continued. She had gotten into the habit of making cakes for her friends' birthdays ever since Hermione had gotten her that cookbook for her birthday. The last birthday cake she had made was for Lavender whose birthday was at the end of June. She'd also taken the train to London so she could get to the Leaky Cauldron, then she took the Floo to the blond's house to deliver her other present, an entire collection of over fifteen trashy Muggle romance books that had cost Hope what would equate to one hundred dollars in American money. Lavender had been ecstatic and was now sending her weekly owls, updating Hope on what she thought of each book.

Now, as she poured the batter into a new pan, she wondered what she could get Harry, other than a cake.

What does one give to the boy who saved your life twice?

What did he like? Quidditch... His broom... treacle tart... What else did she know? He was usually miserable at his aunt and uncle's with nothing to do, while his dick cousin was spoiled rotten with flat screens, computers, video games and-

Hope froze as she slid the pan into the oven, a light bulb going off in her head. She then rushed off to her room, digging through her drawer...

* * *

Over on Number Four Privet Drive, Harry sat in his room, enjoying the last of his minced pie, courtesy of Mrs. Weasley. Over the last couple of weeks, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were hit hard with the news that their sweet 'ickle Diddydums' needed to go on a diet, which meant no more of the sugary, fatty things that the bullying prat loved. After tantrums, tears from Aunt Petunia and a few things getting thrown out the window, Dudley was forced to go on a diet that consisted of mostly fruits and vegetables. This amused Harry at first. It was about time Dudley had to get something taken from him for a change!

Then Aunt Petunia had the bright idea that the entire family should go on the diet to keep ickle Diddikins morale up. Which, of course, meant that Harry would be getting the smallest portions though he was actually the smallest person in the house. So, he had sent Hedwig with cries of help to Ron, Hermione and Hagrid. Ron's mother had sent him a fruitcake along with an assortment of meat pies. Hermione had sent him a box of sugar-free snacks and Hagrid had sent him a box of homemade rock cakes which Harry avoided... So, while Dudley was forced to eat grapefruits and carrots, Harry had real food.

Also, as it was now his birthday (Which the Dursleys ignored as usual) he had received four wonderful birthday cakes from Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and Sirius. Errol had crashed to his bed, package tied to his legs. Harry scooped the owl up and placed him Hedwig's empty cage so he could recover. Inside the package was an amazing chocolate birthday cake from Ron. Also, right then Hedwig returned from Hermione's with another cake, this time vanilla. Hagrid had also sent a barn owl with a chocolate cake and a colorful, tropical bird had brought a cake courtesy of Sirius. Hedwig looked more than a little irritated at the sight of the bird and had actually left to get away from it (that had been hours ago); though Harry liked it. It gave him images of sandy beaches and of Sirius enjoying himself, wherever he was.

Harry went to cut himself a piece of cake but stopped when he heard fluttering. Looking up, he blinked in surprise when Hedwig, along with Nik, came through the window, each with a box. They dropped each box in front of him and Harry opened the box that Hedwig had been carrying, happily surprised to find a Louisiana Crunch Cake with "Happy 14th, Harry!" written in red icing.

"Nice, Hope!" he said, surprised yet happy she remembered. He pulled off the note attached to the top of the box.

_Harry,_

_HAPPY FOURTEENTH! _

_So, remember how I said I'd make you a cake... Well, here it is. Do you know Hedwig actually came to my house to make certain I got you a present? Your owl is so smart, it's insane. How've you been? Are you enjoying being fourteen? What else did you get and from who? Oh, and you should make a Skype account. My Skype name is HopeySmokey_

_Ttyl,_

_Hope._

Harry read the letter, giving a small snort at the last sentence. As if he would ever need a Skype account. He wasn't allowed on the computer downstairs and Dudley would sooner die than let Harry use his laptop, PlayStation, desktop, iPad, iPhone or that infernal iWatch thing. How on earth would he ever get on the internet unless he went to the local library? Shaking his head, he went to open the second box from her and when he did he felt his jaw drop.

Inside the box was a Kindle Fire tablet! Along with a pair of earbuds.

"Wh-what..." he could barely form words. That's why she added her Skype name!

He took a frantic glance at the clock. It was nearing midnight now. He quietly opened the door to his room and listened. He heard snores coming from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's room and lots of gunfire from Dudley's, meaning he was playing Call of Duty something or other. As quietly as he could, Harry sneaked down the stairs, making certain to bypass the one step that creaked. He then went to the family computer and got the network information. He already knew the password: Diddydinkledums.

Easing back up the stairs and into his room, he eagerly began setting up his new present. He had to refrain from squealing like a girl when the internet connected. The first thing he did was install Skype and set up an account. Then he plugged in the earbuds and placed his first call ever.

There was a small wait, then soon the screen was filled with Hope's torso and smirking face.

"Heya..." she smiled.

"Hope... you are brilliant!"

Hope did a small cabbage-patch dance. She must've been in her room. There was a poster of Sailor Moon in the background, a beautiful painting of a city skyline under a bright full moon, and a poster of an American rock band as well as a member of the Chicago Bulls. A lava lamp was lit next to where she sat, along with the velvet bag Harry knew contained her runes and tarot deck.

"So, you like?" she asked, clearly knowing the answer.

"Yes, I do. Thank you!" He tried to think of something else to say to her. He hadn't spoken with her since the return trip, when she had told him that she was a born werewolf. He looked at his calendar and saw that the fifth of July, which had past, was the last full moon. "Hey, how did your fu-"

Hope's eyes popped and she was waving her hands frantically, pointing toward her door with one hand and placing a finger over her lips with the other. Clearly she didn't want to risk being heard. How loud were the computer speakers in her room if her aunt would hear her?

He then began to type into the message box.

_'How was your last full moon? That was the fifth, right?'_

Hope nodded and began to type. There was a ding, alerting a sent message.

_'Yep. It was fine. I spent it at Parvati's. Lavender came too and it was basically a sleepover. I made Angel Food cake for everyone and they loved it. It was pretty tame. No moon madness for this month' _

A mischievous smirk then twisted her mouth and she began typing.

_'So, what'd Cho get you for your birthday? Devirgination? Has your maidenhead been forfeited?'_

Harry's mouth fell open at that and he flipped off the camera before replying.

_'You bloody pig! NO! Maidenhead? Really? I don't even have one of those!_

Hope was now covering her mouth, consumed with giggles. Harry fumed at her then decided he'd try her tactics, typing his reply.

_'Speaking of which, what about you and Fred? You're the one with the actual 'maidenhead.' Has it been forfeited?'_

Hope's mouth fell open and she scoffed.

_'No! And fine, I'll give you that one... But, no. I haven't even seen Fred since the return trip. I've written him a few times but he takes a thousand years to reply back. And when he does, they're only a few sentences long, like he's texting or something. Seriously, are boys allergic to sending good messages?'_

Harry scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not knowing how to answer that. He knew that Fred Weasley sometimes had the attention span of a monkey so he probably got distracted when he was supposed to have written her back. Speaking of relationships, he and Cho had only exchanged a few letters since the return trip. In fact, and something in his chest felt uneasy at this, Cho hadn't sent him a birthday greeting. He had made certain to send her what remained of his Honeydukes sweets on her birthday. As for his issues at home, he had refrained from telling her about the forced diet. He didn't want to ask her for help and have her think he was some poor little boy who barely ate. Granted, he didn't tell Hope either, but that was mostly because he didn't want to bother her...

He shoved the thoughts from his mind and focused on typing out a reply.

_'Maybe he's been busy with homework? He's a NEWT student now, you_ know.'

Hope gave a small shrug, as if she hadn't considered that. Harry could tell that the subject was bugging her so he decided to try and change it.

'_I find it funny that you said you were sick of talking to me about girls, and now you're asking me about boys.'_

Hope read that and scoffed. '_That's different, you were a lost cause.'_

Harry bristled. _Screw you. _He flipped her off again for punctuation.

Hope gave an exasperated sigh. _'I don't think Cho or Fred would appreciate it if we did that...'_

Harry rolled his eyes, then smirked as he replied. _'Yet, I see you're not objecting...'_

Hope's mouth fell open and she dissolved into a fit of disbelieving laughter. '_Harry, you pig!'_

_'Side effect from hanging out with you.'_

Hope gave a conceding shrug to that, then switched to regular speech. "So, you should totally sign into Netflix."

"Like I could..."

Hope then sent him her Netflix info and told him to make his own profile if he wanted. "It's totally fine. Hermione's on mine, along with Parvati. Parvati sometimes goes to a Muggle cafe near her house and uses the computers to watch Netflix. I sort of got her addicted to some of the shows. Lavender goes with her... But yeah, go and make a profile."

Harry grinned at that. "All right, thanks..."

Hope gave a small yawn. "Welp, I'm headed to bed... G'night..."

"Night, Hope. Thanks again."

She signed off and Harry, too ecstatic to sleep, decided to take advantage of the Netflix app. He saw there were four already made profiles after he signed in with Hope's information: Hope, Lavender, Parvati and Hermione. Curious, he took a glance at Hermione's.

His brows rose. What on earth was _Basic Instinct?_

* * *

"So, have you finished all of your homework?"

"Yes, Aunt Bex..."

It was now nearing mid-August and Hope was currently lounging in a beach chair underneath a large umbrella. After a month of awkwardness, Rebekah had dragged Hope to a lovely beach in Sussex, deciding for some sun-time to go along with their usual shopping trip. The change of scenery was welcome, and Hope had honestly forgotten all about the giant secret she was toting along with the one her aunt was keeping from her. Though during the car ride, her aunt had seemed weird. Like she was excited about something... However, once they settled on the shore the vampire had mainly been on her phone. Hope thought nothing of it, considering she was busily playing Angry Birds on her own phone.

"I'm going to get us something to drink. What would you like?" Rebekah asked as she got up and tied a sheer sarong around her bikini clad hips.

"A pina colada?" Hope asked hopefully.

Rebekah smiled. "One _virgin _pina colada coming right up..."

"Boo!"

The blond vampire then disappeared toward the small store which doubled as a bar and Hope sat up, removing the large sunglasses from her face to better take in the scenery. It was a sweltering August day and the blue water sparkled like diamonds in the sunlight. Seagulls were cawing, children were laughing and there was the distant sound of motorboats and jet skis. Then, there was a fluttering next to her and Hope blinked when barn owl swooped down and landed on the armrest of her chair. Hogwarts letters already?

Hope pulled the letter from the owl and quickly paid him a knut, praying no one saw that. The owl flew away and Hope hurriedly opened the letter. It was the book list for her classes as well as something about dress robes...

She took out her phone and dialed one of the few people in her contact list.

"Hello?"

"Hey, It's Hope. Hermione, what are dress robes?"

"Oh! Hello, Hope. You received your book list as well, then? They're robes for formal occasions... Though, the girls can wear gowns and dresses if they choose to, I believe."

"Oh... okay, thanks!"

"How's your summer so far?" Hermione asked.

"At the beach right now... So, _Basic Instinct,_ huh?" Hope asked with a smirk. She had seen what Hermione had been watching. "You can't _ever_ call me a pig again..."

Hermione huffed. "I was just curious about American movies..."

"Yeah, sure..." she then stopped her teasing when that same strange feeling that she only had when around Professor Lupin overtook her. "Hermione, I have to go."

"What's wrong?" the girl asked, noting her change in tone. But Hope had already hung up.

Hope got to her feet, tucking the letter into her tote bag. Her eyes scanned the beach as she looked for the source of what she was feeling. Was it Professor Lupin? Somehow she doubted he would be on a beach...

"Hope, over here!" she heard Rebekah call.

Hope found the blond vampire making her way back to their spot, two drinks in hand. She started towards her, "Aunt Bex, I-" then she stopped when she noticed the person next to aunt.

Hope's stomach dropped and her chest exploded with a sugary sensation as their eyes met. She had only seen this person before in visions and Skype...

"Hey, baby girl..."

"MOM!"

She rushed forward to give the other woman a fourteen year overdue hug.

* * *

"So, how long are you here until?" Hope asked.

They were all lounging by the water now. Hayley had not been able to take her eyes off her daughter, wanting to take in everything about the girl she hadn't physically seen since the day she gave birth to her.

"Until you have to go back to school. So, the rest of the month," Hayley replied. "Gives you enough time to show me around England... This is my first time even being out of the U.S. So far, I like it. So, tell me about you. How was your last half of school? Was that little bitch still talking shit?"

Hope rolled her eyes at the thought of Pansy. "Ugh... I got into a fight with her on my birthday. The cow broke the necklace Dad gave me... But, my friend and my teacher broke up the fight and my teacher fixed it... Well, my former teacher... He had quit two weeks before we had to come back home..." she hesitated before continuing. "He's a werewolf..."

Hayley sat up straight at that. "What?"

"Yeah... a bitten one... Y'know bitten werewolves actually exist and everyone thinks the wolves like you are an extinct myth?"

Hayley's hazel eyes widened as she took that in. "You mean that stuff from horror movies about people getting bit and then turning is real?"

"Mhm... it's like a virus... he was bitten when he was a little boy. And, oh my god, they are so racist against werewolves it's ridiculous! Once everyone found out what he was, thanks to our jerk of a Potions teacher by the way, he had quit because he knew everyone would be clamoring for him to quit or the parents would pull their kids out of school. No one in my House really cared because he was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we'd ever had."

Rebekah also sat up straight. "You didn't tell me this when you got home..." her eyes were slightly narrowed.

"I was busy with my essay on the goblin wars and I forgot..." Hope said with a shrug.

"Goblin _whats_?" Hayley exclaimed. "Those are real, too?"

"Yes, they actually run the bank," Rebekah said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Oh, yeah... By the way, Aunt Bex, my book list came while you were getting the drinks. I need a formal dress or dress robes..." Hope handed the list to her aunt who sighed.

"Very well..." she then turned to Hayley "So, want to come school shopping with us?"

Hayley's astonished expression shifted into a grin. "Hell, yeah..."

T.T.T.

While Hayley had imagined for fourteen years what shopping with her daughter would be like, never once had she imagined anything like this. After changing into regular clothes and leaving the beach, the three had parked in front of what looked like a broken down shop on Charing Cross Road. However, when they entered, Hayley brows nearly leapt from her forehead. Inside had been an inn with a bar, several dining tables and lit fireplace. But what was most fascinating were the patrons. The strange fashions alone... And why was that old woman wearing a balaclava in this heat?

"That's a hag," Hope whispered to her mom as she pulled out her wand and proceeded to tap the bricks; they then gave way to the most splendid place Hayley had ever seen.

The shops were amazing, but what was most amazing was that Hope seemed to easily fit in here, though she was dressed as a regular girl in Capri pants, sandals and a t-shirt. She waved to some of the shopkeepers, who all waved back. She had ran into a few kids her own age that seemed to know her.

"Hope, hi!" a boy called. He had sandy brown hair and an Irish accent. He flushed when he looked at Rebekah. "Hi, Rebekah..."

"Hello, Seamus..." Rebekah smiled and he seemed pleased she remembered his name.

Hope had fought hard not to roll her eyes. "Seamus, this is my mom, Hayley. Mom, this is Seamus Finnigan, he's in my year and in Gryffindor with me."

Seamus was now goggling at Hayley and Hope did roll her eyes this time. He finally found his voice and said hello, shaking hands with the amused hybrid.

"Nice to meet you, Seamus."

Seamus then turned to Hope "Are you going to the Quidditch World Cup? Mam's taking me and Dean. It's on the twenty-third."

Hope shook her head. She knew as much about international Quidditch as she did about how slugs mated... Which was nothing at all.

"Ireland's going to be facing Bulgaria! They won against Peru after Peru flattened the U.S.A team... Er, sorry..." he then added when he remembered where Hope and her mom were from.

"We have a Quidditch team?" Hope said in shock. Hayley was just as surprised, though she was more confused. She'd heard a bit about Quidditch but thought it was just a thing at Hope's school.

The conversation between the two kids stayed on Quidditch and Hayley had a hard time even trying to keep up with terms like 'Quaffle' and 'Bludger.' Rebekah was clearly bored and offered to take Hayley to the wizard bank to show her the goblins while Hope and Seamus gathered their books.

The goblins had been something else. Hayley got the feeling they knew what she was by the way they regarded her shrewdly but they had no issues in exchanging their money for gold, silver and bronze pieces. By the time they returned, they found the boy had left. They picked up the books, as well as restocked Hope's ingredients for her Potions class.

"Your Potions teacher was the one who said that bull crap, right?" Hayley asked as they left that shop to look for Hope's dress robes.

"Yep..."

"And he's the one who outed your teacher?"

"Mhm..."

"Can I eat him?"

"You'll get indigestion..."

The robe shop was mainly full of kids her age and up, mostly girls. It was a lot like how regular shops were during prom season. Hope looked at the selection of robes, pulling a set of pretty blue ones off the rack. She didn't seem too enthusiastic.

"Problem, sweetie?" Hayley asked.

"Ehh... I don't know if I want to wear these... I can't believe I'm saying this... but I want to wear a dress."

Rebekah had been positively ecstatic at the idea of dress shopping and they had left Diagon Alley at once. They entered the Leaky Cauldron again only for Hayley to let out a surprised shout when a group of people clamored out of the fireplace.

"Hope, hi!" a pretty girl with dark hair and bronze skin exclaimed.

"Parvati, hey!"

It was so weird watching someone who just climbed out of a fireplace step forward like nothing was amiss. However, Hayley's brain clicked at the name 'Parvati.' This was the girl Hope had saved from the vampire during the Christmas holidays. She was with her family, another girl that looked a lot like her and a woman that must've been her mother

"Oh, this is my mom, Hayley," Hope said.

Introductions were made. The sister was Padma and the mother was Varsha. Varsha Patil was ecstatic to see Hope and gave her a long hug as well as vigorously shook Hayley's hand, claiming she was honored to meet Hope's mother.

"You got all of your books and things, then?" Padma asked Hope. "What about your dress robes?"

"We've already got our robes at home. Grandmum sent us both some from India," Parvati said.

"Ooh, nice!" Hope exclaimed. "I think I'm just going to go with a dress. "I'm not much of a robe girl..." she then switched the conversation. "So, I ran into Seamus... he wouldn't stop going on about the World Cup... I had no clue America even had a team."

"Oh, yes! There are teams all over... We're actually going this year. Lavender's coming with us," Parvati exclaimed "And we've got extra tickets because... well..." she then pulled Hope to the side though Hayley and Rebekah's hearing picked up every word.

"Lavender's parents were going to go... but they decided not to... they're splitting up and a family outing would've been awkward..."

"What?" Hope said, astonished. "Mr. and Mrs. Brown were like the happiest couple I'd ever seen in my life."

"I know, right... But, apparently Mrs. Brown was having an affair... and with the one who helped organize the Cup, Ludo Bagman."

Hope's mouth dropped. "Wow... no wonder they aren't going..."

"Though, I don't know why Mr. Brown is getting all annoyed... he cheated first, or so I heard Mum and Dad say when they thought I was asleep on the sofa... He apparently cheated with Sophia Zabini... Blaise Zabini's mother."

Hayley and Rebekah exchanged raised brows before hearing Hope's outraged scoff.

"Blaise Zabini, that arrogant, douchey Slytherin piece of..." Hope then pinched the bridge of her nose. "Wow... How's Lav taking it? I'm guessing that's why her book review owls have tapered off..."

"She just found out about it... She's been staying with her grandfather. But, her parents gave us their tickets and we were going to ask if you wanted to come with us. Dad already got a ticket for you. The extra ones were for Rebekah and whoever else you wanted to bring..."

Hope abruptly turned to her mom and aunt. "Mom, Aunt Bex want to go to the World Cup?"

"Okay!" they said simultaneously.

"Wait... Muggles can't attend..." Mrs. Patil said but Hope waved away her concern.

"Mom and Aunt Bex are Squibs."

Hayley had no clue what a Squib was but Rebekah spoke very lowly so only she could hear "Just go with it."

"_Oh_..." Mrs. Patil said with a mix of understanding and a touch of pity. "Oh, well that's all right then."

They then parted ways and once they were in Rebekah's car, Hayley turned to Hope.

"What's a Squib?"

* * *

The days went by rather quickly for Harry. Normally, his summers on Privet Drive were a lull of awful boredom, but this time he was clearly enjoying himself. He had food while Dudley only got carrot sticks. Cho had finally sent him a present, an assortment of Asian candies (her family had been on vacation in China and she had returned to Britain after his birthday had passed), and he was having loads of fun with his new tablet. It was easily the best present he'd gotten for his birthday. Aside from Hope, he was now able to talk with Hermione, Dean and Seamus. He'd even had small conversations with Justin Finch-Fletchley. Hannah Abbot had been at the boy's home during that one and both were decidedly giggly. Were they dating?

He had gotten everyone's Skype name from Hope. It seemed that all of the Muggle-raised students kept some small form of contact with each other and the only reason Harry hadn't been included was because he was unable to connect. When he had sent Hermione a message, she had been ecstatic.

"Harry! This is wonderful! Who got you that? Was it Sirius?"

"No, Hope gave it to me."

Hermione's brows rose on his screen and he scoffed, knowing what she was thinking

"Come off it, Hermione. She had two of them and she just gave me the extra one. Besides, she spent a load of money on Lavender, so by that logic, those two should be dating."

Hermione scoffed and Harry then gave a grin, pretending to imagine something "All though..."

"Oh- Harry!" Hermione admonished. "Pervert!"

"Oh, like you're one to talk... You're the one with _Basic Instinct _on your 'recently watched' list on Netflix."

Hermione flushed and sputtered. "That... I was just curious about American movies, that's all!"

"Mhm..." Harry said sarcastically and had a good laugh when the girl promptly signed off.

It was later that evening that he had received his Hogwarts list. He had no clue what dress robes were for... He'd message Hermione later about them, either her or Seamus. Right now, he was right tired. And no wonder, it was nearing midnight.

He then turned off his tablet and hid it in the loose floorboard with his other treasures and promptly went to sleep.

* * *

In the village of Little Hangleton, an old man by the name of Frank Bryce had awoke in the middle of the night due to his bad leg; a remnant of his days in the war. It pained him worse than ever at his old age. He got up and limped down the stairs to refill his hot water bottle to ease the stiffness in his knee. That's when he saw the lights glimmering in the upper windows of The Riddle House, the house where he had always worked as a gardener... the home where the first family, Mr. and Mrs. Riddle and their handsome son, Tom, had all been found dead. The entire town thought Frank had killed them, though there had been no physical evidence on the bodies...

Frank stared at the flickering lights and frowned. Those damned neighborhood boys had broken in again, and this time they started a fire. He didn't have a phone or computer and considering all of the trouble he had went through for a crime he didn't commit, there was no way in Hell he was going to call the police. He instead went to go dress and then, with his walking stick in hand, set off into the night.

The front door of the Riddle House bore no sign of being forced, nor did any of the windows. Frank limped to the back door, pulled out his old key and opened the door noiselessly. He made his way through the home, though it had been years since he last entered, he still remembered how to navigate it. And judging by the light that was flickering from the top of the landing, the intruders were upstairs. He quietly made his way up the steps and found the light coming from the room at the very end of the hallway.

He edged closer, peering inside the ajar door. A fire had been lit in the grate. That was surprising. Then he stopped moving and listened as hard as he could, for a man's voice had spoken, timid and fearful. The speaker was a short, squat man in a dark cloak with balding hair.

"There is more in the bottle, My Lord, if you are still hungry."

"Later," said a cold and high voice that caused a chill to go up the old man's spine. "Move me closer to the fire, Wormtail..."

Frank listened hard, adjusting his hearing aid to hear better. There came the clink of a bottle being put down upon a hard surface, and then the scraping of a chair as the small, squat man called 'Wormtail' scooted the chair closer to the fire.

"Where is Nagini?" said the cold voice.

"I... I don't know, My Lord," said the first voice. "She set out earlier... to explore the house, I think..."

"You will milk her before we retire, Wormtail. I will need feeding in the night. The journey tired me greatly."

Frank listened as hard as he could, trying to decipher this bizarre conversation.

"My Lord, may I ask how long we are going to stay here?"

"A week. Perhaps longer. The place is moderately comfortable, and the plan cannot proceed yet. It would be foolish to act before the Quidditch World Cup is over."

"The-the World Cup, My Lord? Forgive me, but... I do not understand... why should we wait until the World Cup is over?"

"Because, idiot, at this very moment wizards are pouring into the country from all over the world, and every meddler from the Ministry of Magic will be on duty. They will be obsessed with security, lest the Muggles notice anything. So, we wait."

Frank stopped fiddling with his hearing aid. He had certainly heard the words 'Ministry of Magic' 'wizards' and 'Muggles.' Clearly this was some sort of secret code and only spies and criminals spoke in codes. He tried to listen more closely. This time there was a strangle rattling, knocking sound, like something was shaking atop a table.

"Do not question me," the high voice snapped though Frank was certain that Wormtail hadn't spoken. "It was I who performed the spell that binds you in that form. I can easily return you, but if you continue to question me I can easily leave you just as you are. You would think you would try to stay hidden since that Muggle-loving fool, Dumbledore, hasn't hesitated to enlist the help of Original Vampires before. And we both know how you fared against _them_ last time."

Another rattle, this time softer.

"Your apology is accepted... And you do have your uses... You were the one who told me of the benefits of Spanish Moss mixed with Nagini's venom... You have helped me greatly... You sought me out, along with cowardly Wormtail here, and helped me greatly... You will be rewarded... Lord Voldemort always rewards his helpers."

Another soft rattle, then the man called Wormtail began to speak. "Your Lordship is still determined, then?"

"Certainly, I am determined, Wormtail." There was a note of menace in this second man's voice now.

There was a pause and the Wormtail began to speak quickly, "It could be done without Harry Potter, my Lord."

"Without Harry Potter?" breathed the second voice softly. "I see."

"My Lord, I do not say this out of concern for the boy! The boy is nothing to me, nothing at all! It is merely that if we were to use another witch or wizard- anyone- the thing could be done so much more quickly! If you... you know that I can disguise myself most effectively... I could be back here in as little as two days with a suitable person-"

"I could use another wizard... that is true..."

"My Lord, it makes sense," said Wormtail, relieved. "Laying hands on Harry Potter would be so difficult, he is so well protected-"

Now there was a laugh, cold and mirthless along with another shaking rattle. "Oh, Wormtail... if you only knew what our friend here is calling you at this moment." The laughter then stopped. "And so, Wormtail, you would volunteer to go and fetch me a substitute? I wonder... perhaps the task of nursing me has become wearisome for you? Could this be an attempt to desert me?"

"My Lord! I... I have no wish to leave, none at all!"

"Do not lie to me!" hissed the second man "I can always tell, Wormtail! You are regretting that you ever returned to me. Regretting bringing this one along with you. I revolt you. I see you flinch when you look at me, feel you shudder when you touch me..."

"No! My devotion to Your Lordship-"

"Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go. How am I to survive without you, when I need feeding every few hours? Who is to milk Nagini? I am no stronger than I was before, and a few days alone with this one would be enough to rob me of the little health I have regained under your clumsy care. _Silence!_"

Wormtail had been sputtering incoherently but fell silent at the command. There was nothing to be heard except the crackling of the fire. Then the second man spoke again in a whisper that was like a hiss.

"I have my reasons for using the boy, as I have explained to you, and I will use no other. Our dear _friend_ here grasped it easily enough when I explained it.. though... our friend is used to working such spells. I have waited thirteen years. A few more months will make no difference. As for the protection surrounding the boy, I believe my plan will be effective. All that is needed is a little courage from you, Wormtail... courage you will find, unless you wish to feel the full extent of Lord Voldemort's wrath-"

"My Lord, I must speak! All through our journey I have gone over the plan in my head... My Lord, Bertha Jorkin's disappearance will not go unnoticed for long, and if we proceed, if I murder-"

"_If_? If? You will follow the plan, Wormtail, and the Ministry need never know that anyone else has died. You will do it quietly and without fuss; I would do it myself if I could, but in my present condition, I cannot. Come, Wormtail, one more death and our path to Harry Potter is clear." A pause and a rattle from the table "Of course, I remember your terms as well... You are not the only one interested in the girl..." He then spoke again to Wormtail "And as for your part, I am not asking you to do it alone. By that time, my _faithful_ servant will have rejoined us."

"I am a faithful servant, Master..." said Wormtail with a trace of sullenness.

"Wormtail, I need someone with brains, someone whose loyalty has never wavered. Our friend here, while intelligent, has never been one of my loyal Death Eaters. And _you_ fulfill neither requirement."

"I found you..." said Wormtail and there was a suly edge in his voice now. "I brought this one with me... We wanted to find you. And it was _I_ who brought you Bertha Jorkins."

"That is true," said the second man and he sounded amused. "A stroke of brilliance I would not have thought possible from you, Wormtail. Though, if truth be told, you were not aware of how useful she would be when you caught her, were you?"

"I... I thought she might be useful, My Lord..."

A rattle from the table as well as the second man's voice, full of cruel amusement. "Liar... and our friend here blatantly says you are full of shit. However, I do not deny that her information was invaluable. Without it, I could never have formed our plan, and for that, you will have your reward, Wormtail. I will allow you to perform an essential task for me, one that many of my followers would give their right hands to perform..."

"Really? My-my Lord?" Wormtail sounded terrified.

"Ah, Wormtail, you don't want me to spoil the surprise, do you? Your part will come at the very end... but, I promise you, you will have the honor of being just as useful as Bertha Jorkins."

"You... you... You're going to kill me, too?" Wormtail asked, voice suddenly hoarse.

"Wormtail, Wormtail... why would I kill you? I killed Bertha because I had to. She was fit for nothing after my questioning, quite useless. In any case, awkward questions would have been asked if she returned to the Ministry with news that she had met you on her holidays. Wizards who are supposed to be dead would do well not to run into Ministry witches at wayside inns..."

Wormtail was muttering something so quietly that Frank couldn't hear a word of it, but it caused whatever was on the table to rattle and the second man to laugh an icy, mirthless laugh.

"We could have modified her memory, Wormtail? But, Memory Charms can be broken by a powerful wizard, as I proved when questioned her. It would be an insult to her _memory_ not to use the information I extracted from her, Wormtail."

In the hallway, Frank became aware that the hand gripping his walking stick was slippery with sweat. The man with the cold voice had killed a woman. He was talking without any kind of remorse... with amusement... like a madman. And he was planning more murders! Him and someone else who had yet to speak. This boy, Harry Potter and a girl they hadn't named, were in danger.

Frank knew what he had to do. He had to go to the police. He would creep out of the house and head straight for one of the few telephone boxes left in the village... but the cold voice was speaking again, and Frank was frozen on the spot, listening with all his might.

"One more murder... my faithful servant at Hogwarts... Harry Potter is as good as mine, Wormtail. It is decided. There will be no more argument. Be quiet, I think I hear Nagini..."

And the second man's voice changed. He started making noises that Frank had never heard in his over seventy years of life; he was hissing and spitting without drawing breath. Frank thought he must've been having a seizure.

And then Frank heard movement behind him in the dark hallway. He turned, looked and found himself scared stiff.

Something was slithering toward him along the dark corridor floor. As it drew closer, he realized, horror freezing him cold, that it was a gigantic snake, at least twelve feet long. Horrified, transfixed, Frank stared as its long, muscular body cut a wide, curving track through the thick dust on the floor, coming close and closer. What could he do? The only way to escape was into the room where two men sat plotting murder, but if he stayed where he was then the snake would surely kill him.

But, before he could decide, the snake passed him, following the spitting and hissing noises made by the second man inside the room. Sweat dribbled down Frank's face and neck and he clenched his walking stick hard. Inside the room, the other man continued to make that strange noise and a stranger idea came to Frank, a bizarre, frightening idea. _This man could talk to snakes..._

Frank didn't understand what was going on. He wanted more than anything to be back in his bed. However his legs didn't seem to want to move. As he stood there, shaking and trying to master himself, the cold voice switched to English.

"My friends, Nagini has some interesting news. According to Nagini, there is an old Muggle standing right outside this room, listening to every word we say."

Frank didn't have a chance to hide or run. There were footsteps, quicker than his had been in years, and then the door of the room flung open.

A short, balding man with graying hair, watery eyes and a small pointed nose stood before Frank, a mixture of fear and alarm on his face.

"Invite him inside, Wormtail. Where are your manners?"

The cold voice was coming from the ancient armchair before the fire, but Frank couldn't see the speaker. The snake was curled up on the hearth rug. Frank looked around for the other person that the one with the cold voice was speaking to but found no one.

Wormtail beckoned Frank into the room. Though still deeply shaken, Frank took a firmer grip on his walking stick and limped over the threshold.

The fire was the only source of light. Frank stared at the back of the armchair; the man inside it must've been smaller than his servant, for Frank couldn't even see the back of his head.

"You heard everything, Muggle?" said the cold voice.

"What's that you're calling me?" said Frank defiantly. Now that he was in the room and the time of action was upon him, he felt braver. It had always been so in the war.

"I am calling you a Muggle. It means that you are not a wizard," said the voice coolly.

Frank took another step into the room, just as the rattling started again. He looked around and found nothing, except a strange doll on one of the tables. He turned back to the chair. "I don't know what you mean by wizard," he said, voice growing steadier. "All I know is I've heard enough to interest the police tonight, I have. You've done murder and you're planning more! And I'll tell you this too, my wife knows I'm up here and if I don't come back-"

"You have no wife. No one knows you are here. You came alone and told no one that you were coming. Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, Muggle, for he knows... he always knows..."

"Is that right?" Frank said roughly, "Lord, is it? Well, I don't think much of your manners, _My Lord._ Turn 'round and face me like a man, why don't you?"

"But, I am not a man, Muggle. I am much, much more than a man. However... why not? I will face you.. Wormtail, come turn my chair around."

The servant gave a whimper.

"You heard me, Wormtail."

Slowly with his face screwed up in revulsion, the small man moved forward and began to turn the chair. The snake lifted its ugly, triangular head and hissed slight as the legs of the chair snagged its rug. The doll... The doll on the table began to rattle harshly.

And then the chair was facing Frank, and he saw what was sitting in it. His walking stick fell to the floor, his mouth opened in a scream. He screamed so loudly that he never heard the words the thing in the chair spoke as it raised a wand. There was a flash of green lgight, a rushing sound and Frank Bryce crumpled to the dusty floor. He was dead before he hit the wood.

Two hundred miles away Harry awoke with a start, hands clutching his lightning scar which burned so badly it was like someone pressed a wire to his skull.

**Okay. That was fun! I know this isn't as long as the other chapters and I'm sorry for that, but I wanted to get this out before the weekend was up. Hope you liked it! Please leave a review and let me know what you thought.**

**But, and let me be clear about one thing, I know that a great deal of the TO fandon doesn't like Hayley. Sorry, but I actually like her, granted she does some pretty questionable things at times, but considering all the fuckery that every TVD and TO character has pulled at some point, I'm not about to throw stones. So, please, don't, and I repeat DON'T send me reviews or PMs about how you hate Hayley and wish it was someone else visiting Hope. You will be ignored and laughed at for your pettiness. I had that happen in another fandom I wrote fics in and the pettiness just left me astounded. People REALLY didn't have anything better to leave in a review? Nothing about the story itself, nothing about grammar, just 'Meh! I hate that person. Don't use her! Use someone else! Wah wah wah!' Yeah... I won't entertain that crap if it floats its way here. Just saying...**

**That being said, stay tuned for the next chapter. Please read and review! Have a good one, loves!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello all, thank you for the kind reviews. They made my day. **

His heart pounded, threatening to burst through his ribcage. He could hardly breathe and the old scar on his forehead was scorching as though someone had set fire to it.

Harry forced himself to sit up, eyes meeting nothing but darkness. He felt around for his glasses and pulled them on. The room came into clearer focus, lit by the orange street lamp outside his window. He ran his fingers over the scar, which was still painful. Swallowing, he turned on the bedside lamp, scrambled out of bed and peered into the mirror on the inside of his door. His reflection looked normal, though his scar was still stinging.

Fighting mentally, Harry tried to recall what he had been dreaming about before he had awoken. It had seemed so real... There had been two people he knew... one he didn't...

_Damn it! Remember!_

The dim picture of a darkened room came to him. There had been a snake on a hearth rug... a small man named Peter, nicknamed Wormtail.. and a cold, high voice... the voice of Lord Voldemort.

Cold, stabbing fingers of fear danced across his stomach and up his spine at the thought. Eyes closing tightly, he tried to remember what Voldemort had looked like but was unable. All he knew was that the moment Voldemort's chair had swung around, and he, Harry, had seen what was sitting in it, he felt his whole form lurch in horror, which had awoken him... or was that the pain of his scar?

And who was the old man? There had definitely been an old man; Harry watched him fall. And there was someone else Voldemort had been speaking to... But Harry had seen no one... but there was a rattling doll... It was all becoming so confused. He tried with all his might to hold onto his dream, putting his face into his hands to block out his bedroom and hold onto the picture of the dimly lit room. However, it was like trying to keep water in his cupped hands; the details were now trickling away fast as he tried to hold onto them. Voldemort and Wormtail had been talking about someone they had killed, though Harry couldn't remember the name... there was something about a girl... and they were planning to kill someone else... _him!_

Harry took his face out of his hands and opened his eyes, looking around as though expecting to see something in his room. There was his trunk, filled with his Hogwarts things. Hedwig's cage sat empty as she was out hunting. Near his bed was the loose floorboard where many things were hidden.

He reached under said floorboard and pulled out the tablet Hope had given him for his birthday and tried to distract himself with Netflix, however, even his new love of _Doctor Who_ could not distract him. He turned the device off and went to read one of his books on Quidditch, his favorite sport, and was unable to clear his mind from what he had seen. He set the book down, crossed to the window and drew back the curtain to survey the street below.

All was quite on Privet Drive this Saturday morning. The curtains of the surrounding houses were shut; there wasn't a single creature in sight, not even a cat.

And yet...

Harry went back to the bed, unable to keep still. He ran his fingers over his scar and it wasn't the pain that bother him, he was no stranger to pain after his past years at Hogwarts and bullying from Dudley. The thing that was bother Harry was that the last time his scar had hurt him, it had been because Voldemort had been close by... But, _he_ couldn't be here now.. The idea of Voldemort on Privet Drive was madness...

Harry listened close to the silence around him. The idea that the creak of a stair or the swish of a cloak in his home petrified him. But then, he jumped at the buzz saw like snore his cousin Dudley gave from the next room.

Swallowing again, Harry shook himself mentally. He was being stupid. There was no one in the house with him except for Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley, and they were all fast asleep. And asleep was how Harry best like them. They were so awful that f he were to even think of going to them because of the fact his scar was hurting him.., Well, that was laughable... Though, it was because of Voldemort that he, Harry, was living with these dreadful people If it hadn't been for Voldemort then Harry would still have his parents...

Harry moved back to his bed and had to fight hard to resist the urge to pull his knees close like a frightened child. What would his friends say? Unbidden, he imagined what his friend would say if he sent them a message with the news that his scar was hurting.

"_Your scar hurt? Harry, that's really serious. Write to Professor Dumbledore! And I'll go and check _Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions... _Maybe there's something in there about curse scars..._

Yeah, that would be Hermione's advice. Go straight to the headmaster of Hogwarts, and in the meantime, consult a book. Harry was doubtful any book could help him at this moment. As far as he knew, he was the only living person to have a survived a curse like Voldemort's; it was unlikely, therefore, that he would find his symptoms in a book. And as for informing the headmaster, Harry had no clue as to where Dumbledore went during the holidays. And while he was sure that Hedwig would be able to find the man, he wasn't sure about what he would put in a letter.

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_Sorry to bother you, but my scar hurt this morning. Yours truly, Harry._

Yeah, that was stupid.

He the tried to imagine what his other friend, Ron, would have to say if Harry told him the news.

"_Your scar hurt? But... but... You-Know-Who can't be near you, can he? I mean... you'd know, wouldn't you? He'd be trying to do you in, right? I dunno, Harry... maybe curse scars always tinge a bit... I'll ask Dad..."_

And while Mr. Weasley was a fully qualified wizard who work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office in the Ministry of Magic, Harry was sure that the man didn't have any expertise in the matter of curses. And Harry didn't like the idea of the whole Weasley family being privy to the issue. Mrs. Weasley would fuss. Fred and George would say he was losing his nerve. The Weasleys' were Harry's favorite family and he was hoping that they might invite him to stay with them soon for the Quidditch World Cup. He didn't want his visit punctuated with anxious questions about his scar.

He tried to imagine other reactions to his issue... Cho in particular... And, he wasn't too keen on the idea of Cho becoming scared and nervous around him. He had no clue of what she would say.

Harry needed his forehead and sighed. What he really wanted, and it was shameful of him to admit this, but what he really wanted was a parent. Someone he could ask advice from without feeling stupid, someone who cared about him, who had experience with Dark Magic...

Wait..._Sirius!_

Harry hopped from his bed and hurried across the room to his desk. He pulled out a piece of parchment, dipped a quill in in and began a letter. He wondered how to best phrase the letter as well as wondered why he hadn't considered Sirius before. But, it wasn't that much of a stretch if he really thought about it. Harry had only been revealed to Harry a couple of months prior. And due to Pettigrew escaping, Harry hadn't been able to be with his godfather as he had so hoped for one glorious hour. But, that didn't mean that the man hadn't been of some help to Harry, even if he couldn't be with him. Ever since Harry had told the Dursley's that his godfather was a convicted murderer they had actually allowed Harry to have the things that made him happy. Harry conveniently forgot to tell them that Sirius was innocent.

Harry had received two letters from Sirius since his return trip from Hogwarts. One in June and one in July with a fabulous birthday cake, delivered by an enormous tropical bird. The letters had sounded cheerful enough, instructing Harry to write him if he ever needed him. Well, he needed him now...

Harry glanced out his window as the sun slowly began to rise. Sounds of movement could be heard from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's room. Clearing the crumpled pieces of parchment from his desk and reread his letter.

_Dear Sirius,_

_Thanks for your last letter and the cake. That bird was huge; it could hardly get through my window. _

_Things are the same as usual here. Dudley's diet isn't going too well. He was sneaking doughnuts in his room yesterday and my aunt threatened t cut his allowance. Dudley got so mad he chucked his PlayStation out the window, which was stupid because now he doesn't even have Call of Duty to keep him busy... that's a Muggle computer game. _

_Oh, speaking of Muggle games and computers, Hope gave me a tablet for my birthday. I can send messages in seconds and talk to friends on screens. The Muggle-raised at Hogwarts have a network that we all keep up on. _

_But, I'm okay mainly because the Dursleys are terrified you might turn up and turn them all into worms if I ask you to. _

_A weird thing happened this morning, though. My scar hurt again. Last time that happened it was because Voldemort was at Hogwarts. But, I don't reckon he can be anywhere near me now, can he? Do you know if curse scars sometimes hurt years afterward?_

_Say hello to Buckbeak for me,_

_Harry._

There, that looked all right. There was no point in putting in the dream; he didn't want to seem though he was too worried. He folded up the parchment and laid it aside on his desk, ready for when Hedwig returned. Then, he got to his feet, stretched, and opened his wardrobe to gaze at his reflection one more time before heading down to breakfast.

* * *

To say that Harry's Saturday had been eventful would have been an understatement. When he had gone down for his breakfast of grapefruit and water, Uncle Vernon had called him into the living room, demanding an explanation for the bizarre letter covered in a bunch of stamps that had appeared in their post box. It had been from Mrs. Weasley, asking if they could take Harry to the Quidditch World Cup this coming Monday night. They wanted to pick him up that Sunday morning and they would even keep him for the remaining two weeks before he had to return to Hogwarts!

Uncle Vernon had been warring between letting Harry do anything he enjoyed and getting rid of him two weeks early. However, Harry had the perfect solution to this issue.

"Oh, I'll just go on upstairs and finish the letter to my godfather then..."

That had freaked out Uncle Vernon enough to allow him to go.

Harry had then bounded up the stairs, resisting the urge to whoop and holler. He was leaving early! He was going to the World Cup! He entered his room and found Hedwig had returned from her hunt, clicking her beak in a way that stated that she was annoyed about something.

That something turned out to be a very small owl, fluttering about his room. The little bird collided with the side of his head, making Harry cry out in surprise. The owl was still whizzing around excitedly, dropping a letter at his feet. Recognizing Ron's handwriting, he bent and grabbed the envelope, tearing it open.

_Harry,_

_DAD GOT THE TICKETS! Ireland versus Bulgaria, Monday night. Mum's writing the Muggles to ask you to stay. They might already have the letter, I don't know how fast Muggle post it. Thought I'd send this with Pig anyway. _

Harry rose his brows at the word 'Pig' and looked up at the still zipping owl. That hardly looked like a pig. He went back to the letter.

_We're going to come get you whether the Muggles like it or not, you can't miss the World Cup, only Mum and Dad reckon it's better if we pretend to ask their permission first. If they say yes, send Pig with your answer pronto. Or message Hermione on her Enter Net thing. She sent you a message before coming here. She got here this morning. _

Harry set the letter down and pulled out his tablet. Sure enough was a message from Hermione.

_Harry, I'm on my way to Ron's. I'll be taking a walk into the muggle area around his home so I can actually see your reply at around nine o'clock this morning. I don't want to risk all of the magic in his house damaging my phone. _

He glanced at the clock. It was nine-fifteen. He placed a Skype call and hoped she'd answer. Soon her face was filling his screen.

"Harry! What did they say?" she asked and Harry could see Ron's face peeking over her shoulder. The other boy must've tagged along, wanting to see how Hermione could send messages faster than an owl if Harry's aunt and uncle wouldn't let him use the phone.

"What the- How does that even _work_?" Ron asked, face full of incredulous confusion as he held the phone.

"Hi, Ron..." Harry couldn't help but laugh. "The Muggles said yes. I'll be ready tomorrow morning."

"Excellent!" Ron cheered, though he was still seaming to marvel at Hermione's phone.

"Can I have my phone back, please?" Hermione snapped and the call was cut off; Ron must've pressed a wrong button.

Still grinning, he sent Ron's still twittering owl with a message for Mrs. Weasley, thanking her, though it was mainly to get the owl out of his room. Hedwig looked close to killing it. He then went to see if any of the other people on his limited contact list were going as well. Justin of Hufflepuff said he would be there as Ernie Macmillan was taking him. He had gotten hold of Dean who was already on his way to Diagon Alley on the train to take the Floo to Seamus's house and from there they would all head to the Cup. He tried to get a hold of Hope but she wasn't answering any of his calls. He doubted she would be there anyway.

But, considering messages...

He scribbled an additive to his letter to Sirius.

_If you want to contact me, I'll be at my friend Ron Weasley's for the rest of the summer. His dad's got us tickets for the Quidditch World Cup!_

Letter finished, he beckoned his owl. "Hedwig, come here. I have a job for you."

Hedwig fluttered over to him and stuck out her foot, holding unusually still as though she was determined to show him how a proper post owl should behave. Harry tied his recent letter to her foot, "Take this to Sirius, all right? And I'll be at Ron's when you get back."

She gave him an affectionate nip on the finger then spread her enormous wings and soared out of the window.

He reached under his floorboard and grabbed some left over cake, savoring the taste of it as Dudley had nothing but grapefruit. It was a lovely summer day, his scar felt normal and he was going to the World Cup... Maybe Cho would be there!

He switched his tablet to Netflix, now fully able to enjoy _Doctor Who. _It was hard to believe he had been worried about anything at all, even Lord Voldemort.

* * *

"Mom, no-"

"Hayley, don't touch tha-"

"OUCH!"

Both Rebekah and Hope winced as Hayley shrank back from the chomping book _The Monster Book of Monsters_. Hayley had picked up the book, curious, only to receive a vicious bite to her wrist. Hope had to spring forward and rub the book across the spine to calm it, shooting her mom an apologetic look.

"Sorry... it does that..."

"What the hell!?" Hayley cried as she gazed at her now healing hand.

"Yeah... our Care of Magical Creatures teacher thought they'd be funny..." Hope informed her with a shrug as she tossed the book back into her room after knotting it shut with a length of cord and yarn.

"Oh... hilarious..." Hayley groused.

It was early Sun morning and the ladies had arisen quite early. Today was the day they were to head to the Quidditch World Cup. After breakfast, they were to pick up Varsha Patil, her two daughters and Lavender Brown at the Leaky Cauldron. Rakesh Patil, the Patil patriarch, was unable to attend due to his duties at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies as a Healer. So, all and all, it was to be a ladies weekend at the World Cup.

Sandwiches had been packed, meat and a Hibachi grill had been loaded into the car along with all of the Southern U.S.A decadence one could ask for. Potato salad, butter beans, coleslaw, a couple of Hope's cakes, as well as a cooler of beer and wine for the big girls. The teens would have to make due with soft drinks, juices and bottled water.

Hope had made certain to pack a few books and comics, just is case she might have gotten board during the car ride as well as during the day long wait. The Cup Final was on Monday night, however the Patils had reserved their campsite for today at noon. And it was after a quick breakfast that they soon piled into the car and were off toward London.

Hope had taken this opportunity to soak in as much Muggle music as she could, knowing that she would be unable to indulge in the dulcet sounds of Britney Spears, or Cher, or Madonna, or Rhianna (she had a thing for great artists of all times, thanks to Rebekah's constant playing of their records when Hope was a toddler... she'd only recently discovered a love of Rock due to _Supernatural_) once they were in wizard-land and the magical interference started.

They soon arrived at the Leaky Cauldron and Hope had run inside to fetch her friends. They loaded all of their things into the back of the car. Varsha looked around curiously as she took the seat behind Rebekah.

"I haven't been in a Muggle car in years... they've certainly improved, haven't they?" she said as Rebekah started down the road.

"Sometimes, even I marvel at the innovation of... Muggles..." Rebekah said and she and Hayley exchanged smirks from the front seats. She then glanced at the blond girl in the back through her rear-view mirror "How are you, Lavender?"

Lavender had been looking particularly sulky, but had managed to put on a semi-convincing smile. "Hi, Rebekah... I'm all right... And it's really nice to meet you, Mrs.-"

"Call me Hayley... Calling me 'Mrs. Anything' makes me feel old," Hayley said with a smile and Lavender gave a small laugh.

"All right..."

"Where's the Cup being held?" Rebekah asked.

"Dartmoor Park, in Devon," Mrs. Patil informed her.

"So, how are we getting there?" Hope asked, turning to Mrs. Patil.

"Well, many are using Portkeys, some are apparating in, from what I understand. I never preferred either... plus, so many people will be using the Portkeys that I'd rather not bother if I could help it; so I was thinking Muggle transport... Maybe a train..."

"Driving would be faster. I'll do it," Rebekah offered.

The drive from London to Dartmoor took all of three and a half hours and the atmosphere in the car was full of excitement. Parvati and Padma were talking about the highlights of the World Cup, such as Ireland's amazing defeat of Peru. Hope had crawled to the back of the car and was discussing books with Lavender, probably to cheer the blond up, both of them reduced to such giggles that Hayley had a feeling they were books the young girls had no business reading. Mrs. Patil was trying to explain the rules of Quidditch to Hayley, not wanting to disturb Rebekah while she was driving.

The drive was later punctuated with lots of Muggle music that Mrs. Patil actually enjoyed. At least until the girls decided that it would be a good idea to sing "Centuries" by Fall Out Boy to the top of their lungs while the older women endured it with pained expressions. Every now and again Hope had looked in through her purse, hearing the sound of her phone vibrating but decided it could wait. She was having too much fun. Plus, Lavender needed her attention at the moment.

It was around eleven-thirty in the morning when they finally made it to the park. They found a few cars parked, and Mrs. Patil placed a special sticker on the bumper, something to alert the Ministry of Magic that they were magical-folk who had drove said car.

Hope pulled out her phone to turn it off since she didn't want it damaged once they got near all of the magic. She then saw she had a few missed Skype messages from Harry.

'_Hope, you won't believe the madness that is happening right now! I'm sure when I get home from Hogwarts in the summer the Muggles will kill me for what just happened to their fire place. And don't even get me started on Dudley's tongue! I'm going to die... But, god, it'll be worth it. Have to go, see you on the train on the 1__st__._

Hope blinked but turned off her phone with a smile. She'd have to ask him what he did this time...

"Oh, are you sure you can carry all that?" Mrs. Patil asked as Hayley heaved the backpack that doubled as a cooler onto her back. Rebekah picked up the small grill and made a show as if it was a hassle.

"It's not a problem," she assured her as they followed Mrs. Patil to meet a woman that stood at the edge of the parking lot to meet them.

"Ahh, good evening, Varsha," said a middle-aged witch who was supposed to be dressed as a muggle, but not a very good one. She was wearing what looked like a pinstriped business skirt with a- dear god, was that a Skelanimals shirt?- and a tracksuit jacket. Hope cast a curious glance at Rebekah. Both she and Hayley were suspiciously tight-lipped as if trying very hard not to laugh.

"Good evening, Hilda," Mrs. Patil said pleasantly.

"It seems I lucked out, getting the ones who were to come in via Muggle transport. Not many are going that route. Poor Basil is stuck on Portkey duty..." she looked a long list of parchment. "Ahh, Patil. About a quarter mile walk that way, and your site manager's a Mr. Payne."

Mrs. Patil thanked Hilda and led them all to the campsite. About five minutes later they had come to a stone cottage where an actual muggle was waiting to greet them. Mrs. Patil gave her name and paid with a roll of muggle money. The man seemed to want to question them about what was all going on, however Rebekah managed to distract him with her shameless charm.

"Oh, now why would you want to worry about whatever they're dragging me to when you can discuss something far more interesting... Like me?"

The man's gaze lit with interest and the girls had to stifle their giggles while Mrs. Patil rose an impressed brow.

"Your campsite is right by the woods, there..." He handed Mrs. Patil her change but his eyes were all for Rebekah. "You come find me if you need anything."

"Oh, I most certainly will..." Rebekah said with three-thousand watt charm. "You have a lovely evening..."

They then set off toward their site, waiting until they were out of earshot before dissolving into cackles.

"Aunt Bex, how do you do that?" Hope asked, holding her side.

"Family charm... don't worry, you'll grow into it one day."

The trudged up the misty field between the long rows of tents. Hayley and Rebekah's heads whipped this way and that as they observed some of the most bizarre looking tents they had ever seen! Some appeared normal but, somehow had put chimneys on them. Others were so extravagantly magical that is was no wonder that the muggle managers of the sites were suspicious.

"Is that... Is that a birdbath?" Hayley asked incredulously.

"And a sundial..." Rebekah muttered.

"Show-offs..." Mrs. Patil sighed then turned to the other women "We usually can't resist showing off when we get together... Sort of like muggles with Christmas lights, I understand."

"Ahhh..." Hayley said. That made sense.

"Here we are! Right here."

They reached the edge of the wood. There was an empty space with a small sign that read "Patil."

"A wonderful spot, the field is just over there..." she pulled off her backpack. "Now... we're supposed to not use magic..." She pulled out the small two-man tent and turned to Hayley "Is anyone looking?"

"Um..." Hayley cast a quick glance around "No."

"Good." Mrs. Patil quickly waved her wand and the pegs and poles erected themselves and within a moment a small two-man tent took up the empty patch of grass.

"We're going to be a bit cramped in here, ladies..." she said as she led them inside.

They followed her inside and when they stepped in, Rebekah, Hayley and Hope all dropped their jaws.

The tent inside of the tent was the size of a spacious penthouse apartment. There were three bedrooms, a kitchen, and two bathrooms. The furnishings were Indian style and it smelled strongly of Nag Champa incense.

"I borrowed this from my sister. I know she has a lot of Muggle friends..." Mrs. Patil led them to their rooms. She would share with Rebekah and Hayley. The sisters would have one room and Hope and Lavender had another.

Hope entered her room for the weekend. There were two twin beds, a small dresser on either side, and a nightstand in between the beds. Lavender and Hope both flopped onto their beds, Hope in awe and Lavender not really fussed. She was clearly used to such things. As Hope took in everything, Lavender had set about putting her clothes into drawers.

"Hope... what's this?" Lavender asked as she opened a drawer. She pulled out a bag of green plants and she sniffed it, wrinkling her nose. "Smells like skunk and pine cones... I don't think we learned about this in Herbology..."

At that moment, Rebekah entered the room, took the small bag and left without a word. Lavender just looked confused while Hope cackled as she took off her shoes.

"What was it?"

"So... what do wizards know about marijuana?" Hope countered.

"Erm... I just know that it's a plant that muggles like... Why? Was that it? What's wrong with it?"

Hope only laughed and got up to see about food, ignoring Lavender's questions about marijuana. She found Hayley and Rebekah setting up the grill while Mrs. Patil watched curiously. They soon got the fire going and were now preparing the chicken, chops and ribs.

"Hope, stop trying to sneak potato salad! Wait until it's ready!" Hayley snapped as her daughter tried to ease the container of potato salad to her room.

"Mom..."

"Hope, go get some water from the pump. We've got this," Rebekah ordered her.

Hope rolled her eyes and motioned for the other girls to follow her. She wanted to get a look at the tents again anyhow.

* * *

"Fred! George! That was not funny!" Mr. Weasley said angrily as the two howled with laughter.

Harry could hardly breathe and had tears pouring as he crawled to the kitchen table of the Burrow, covered in soot.

That morning, the Weasleys had come to Privet Drive to pick him up. However, it was not by car. They had come by Floo, yet were unaware that the Dursley's fireplace was bricked up so they could plug in their fake coal fire. So, Mr. Weasley, Fred, George and Ron had all ended up stuffed in the closed off chimney and Mr. Weasley had to blast through it magically, ruining the Dursely's pristine living room and sending his aunt and uncle into a panic. Dudley had been so terrified, mainly due to his past encounter with Hagrid giving him a pig's tail three years ago (Which had to be surgically removed) that he had spent most of the encounter covering his backside. Then, Fred 'accidentally' dropped a bunch of sweets which had been spelled. Dudley, greedy pig that he was, ate one and ended up with a rapidly growing tongue. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had freaked out horribly, Dudley had been gagging awfully. Mr. Weasley had frantically rushed to shrink his tongue as Harry went through the Floo, though he had stopped to send a quick message to Hope, needing to tell someone.

"What on Earth did you give that Muggle boy!?"

"I didn't give him anything... I just dropped it. It was his fault he went and took it. No one told him to eat it."

"You dropped it on purpose! You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet!"

"How big did his tongue get?" George asked eagerly.

"It was four feet long before his parents let me shrink it!"

Harry and the Weasley boys howled with laughter.

"It isn't funny! That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-Muggle relations! I spend half of my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles and my own sons-"

"We gave it to him because he's a bullying git, not because he's a Muggle!" Fred said indignantly.

"He really is a bully," Harry said earnestly.

"That's not the point! You wait until I tell your mother-"

"Tell me what?"

Mrs. Weasley had just entered the kitchen and everyone froze. Ron, sensing danger, quickly ushered Harry to his room where it was safe. The small owl that had delivered Ron's letter was twittering about excitedly. Hermione was sitting on the bed with Ginny, who went scarlet when she saw Harry.

"Shut up, Pig," Ron huffed at the owl. There were now four beds in the room. "Bill and Charlie are here and staying in Fred and George's room so Fred and George are in here with us. Percy gets to keep his room to himself because he's got to _work," _Ron rolled his eyes. "He's got a job at the Ministry and is positively worshiping his new boss, Mr. Crouch... I'm betting he cheated on Penelope Clearwater with him and that's why she dumped him."

"What? They broke up?" Harry asked in surprised.

"Like Percy could keep a girlfriend... The way he's been behaving..." Ginny said easily. "He wouldn't stop going on about his new job. And when Penelope had gotten a job at St. Mungo's but he didn't want to hear anything about what she was doing, just went on about himself... She got sick of it and broke up with him in the Leaky Cauldron... He chucked her picture into the garbage."

They were silent as Harry took that bit of news in. Then they heard the yelling from downstairs.

"If this has anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!" Mrs. Weasley was shouting.

Harry turned to Ron who was now snickering. Ginny was also laughing though Hermione looked disapproving. "What is she talking about?"

"Mum found a stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George's room," said Ron quietly. "Great long price list for stuff they invented. Joke stuff like fake wands, trick sweets. It was brilliant, I never knew they'd been inventing all that..."

"We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but never thought they were making things. We just thought they liked the noise... We had hardly seen them all summer..."

"Only most of the stuff... well... all of it... is really dangerous. They were planning to sell it at Hogwarts to make a bit of money, then Mum got all mad at them and forbade them from making any more of it. Plus, she's furious that they didn't get as many OWLs as she expected."

"Then there was a big fight... They just want to open a joke shop but she wants them to go into the Ministry like Dad..." Ginny informed them.

Harry let out a small laugh. "Well, that explains why Fred hadn't been talking to Hope as much..."

"You two talk?" Ron asked. "With that Enter Net thing?"

"Just on my birthday," Harry shrugged. "She was complaining that Fred didn't message her much."

"Oh, well, I know he had sent a message to her with Errol before they went to get you," Ginny said.

"Speaking of relationships... How are you and Cho?" Hermione asked and Ginny frowned.

"We've messaged... she got me a bunch of sweets from Asia where she spent her vacation. I'm hoping she'll be at the World Cup as well..."

"Well, we'll be leaving tonight," Ron told him. "We're going to the campsite tonight after dinner."

"How are we getting there?" Harry asked.

"Portkey."

* * *

"Dear god, these are good!"

It was about seven o'clock and in the Patil tent, everyone was enjoying a meal of Hayley's barbecued ribs and chicken, along with the side dishes that they had brought. Earlier that day when Rebekah and Hayley had shooed her off, Hope had taken her friends to gather a pale of water where they ran into a few of their classmates. They saw Penelope Clearwater whom Padma greeted warmly though it was weird for Hope to see her without Percy. They also ran into Dean and Seamus who had arrived a few moments before they had.

They had also spent a good amount of time looking at the tents and their decorations. Someone had actually brought a flock of live peacocks... Needless to say that by the time they got back, the first batch of food was ready. Mrs. Patil was so happy to have Hayley and Rebekah with her as she was lousy with cooking without magic and Hayley was in her element, manning a grill. Even Lavender seemed to be having a good time. Padma kept glancing toward the opening of the tent, clearly on a lookout for Cedric. After dinner was over, Mrs. Patil, Rebekah and Hayley had retired to one of the couches and were now having a conversation about Hogwarts over a few glasses of wine. Padma had disappeared outside to browse the tents again and Lavender, Parvati and Hope currently playing a game of Exploding Snap and discussing Muggle shows when something large and feathery crashed into Hope's side just as the cards exploded, startling Hayley and Rebekah. Mrs. Patil was used to it.

"What the Hell?" Hayley said, looking at both the owl and the fact the girls were now covered in soot.

"Exploding Snap!" Hope said happily, wiping the soot off of her face as she scooped up Errol.

"You'll get used to it," a lounging Rebekah said to Hayley as the other woman eyed the feeble owl curiously. That was the same owl that had crashed into Hope's head over the Christmas holidays.

Hope tugged the letter from the owl's foot and poured him a small dish of water before going to read her letter, a small flush and wide smile on her face.

Then her eyes scanned the letter and the smile disappeared. Her mouth fell open slightly before shutting and she swallowed.

"Hope, what is it?" Parvati asked, anxious to continue their game.

"I... uh... nothing..." Hope said thickly and balled up the letter. "I'm tired... I'm going to take a nap. All that food made me tired..." She then got up and went to her room before anyone could question her.

Hayley stood to move the owl from the middle of the floor when her ears picked up the sound of Hope's quiet sobs, muffled by a pillow. She stood up, turning to Rebekah who also heard the sobs as well for she had lifted her head from her lounging position.

"You go ahead..." Rebekah said, sensing a mother-daughter moment. "I'll be here for backup."

Hayley smiled her thanks then went into the girls' room, finding her daughter face down on her bed. The smell of salt from her tears hit Hayley's nose and her heart clenched. "Hey..." she eased down on the bed next to her, gently stroking her hair. "What happened?"

Hope said nothing, only shook her head without lifting up.

"Was someone hurt?" Hayley asked and received another head-shake as answer. Then it clicked. Sighing, she sat up and shook her head in anger. "So... who just sent you a breakup letter?"

Hope let out choked sob. "How do you know?"

"I was fourteen once, too..." Hayley then retrieved the crumpled parchment from her daughter's limp fingers to read.

_Hope,_

_There's no easy way to say this so I'm just going to say it. I don't think this will work. I'm not feeling it anymore. You're fun, funny, smart and pretty but it's just not working. I figure it's best to just get it out of the way and hope we can be friends. I'm sorry if this hurts you._

_Fred._

"What a dick..." Hayley said softly, anger for her daughter wrapping around her innards. She then pulled Hope into a hug. "Come here..."

Hope sobbed into her mother's shoulder just as Rebekah eased into the room. She gave Hope a pitying smile and sat on the bed to pat her leg. "So... who are we killing?"

"Some kid named Fred," Hayley said easily as she stroked Hope's hair.

"He sent that decrepit feather duster to give you a breakup letter?" Rebekah said indignantly. She had an inkling that Hope was dating someone. The girl had been weirdly secretive. "Oh, sweetheart, you're better off. He sounds like an ass." She then paused, remembering something. "Wait a minute... Is this the boy who was involved in the rumor that little Pansy bitch started? Fred Weasley?"

"Yeah..." Hope said sulkily, lifting her face finally and wiping her eyes. Then she broke into a fresh batch of sobs and Hayley took her by the shoulders.

"Hey, don't even worry about this Fred... Weasleton..."

"Weasley..." Hope corrected sullenly.

"He dumped my baby by carrier pigeon; fuck his last name," Hayley said and earned a weak laugh from the sad girl. "Don't even worry about him... You'll get over it, it seems like you won't now, but you will. This is one of the sucky parts of growing up..."

"Pretty much," Rebekah agreed then paused when she heard two heartbeats outside the door. "Lavender and Parvati are eavesdropping..."

"Come on in," Hayley called and girls came into the room, immediately hopping onto the bed.

"Oh, Hope, I'm sorry!" Lavender cried, throwing her arms around her.

"He's a right git! By owl!? Who does that?!" Parvati said in outrage.

"Clearly, he does..." Hope sniffled.

"What's going on?" Mrs. Patil asked from the doorway and her eyes widened with concern at the sight of Hope. "Hope, what happened?"

"Fred Weasley dumped her by owl," Parvati said gently and the woman rolled her eyes and let out a disgusted scoff.

"Oh, he is just his mother all over."

"What?" Hope asked and Mrs. Patil sat at the edge of the bed.

"Well, funny story... I knew his mother in school... she made a love potion to steal the boy I was dating at the time... Then she dumped him for Arthur Weasley, but I had met my soon to be husband while I was moping so I guess, in a way, I should be thankful."

"There, you see. This is just a lesson in what you don't need. Then you'll thank him for not wasting any more of your time," Rebekah said easily.

"Hope, why don't me and you go for a walk... We can take a look at all the tents... You said there was one with a flock of peacocks?" Hayley said then pulled her off the bed. "Come on. Fresh air will do you good..."

Hope sighed but did as instructed and left with her mother. The two walked along the city of tents quietly. Hope was still sulking and sniffling. How could he do this to her? Was she not good enough? A horrible thought gripped her. Was there another girl? Angelina Johnson? She was on the team with him and was really pretty... Or Patricia Stimpson from Hufflepuff probably? She was a sixth year like him, and tall and perky and blond...

"Hope, don't even _start_ wondering if there's anything wrong with you," Hayley said sternly.

"I wasn't..." she lied sulkily.

"Bull. You're wondering if you did something... if there's some other girl... if you didn't measure up in some way... Don't give that little asshole the power... and if there was another girl, then he's her problem. Just... promise me something, okay..."

Hope looked up at her mom and nodded, "Okay..."

"When you get back to school... and you see that little fool again... Don't let your temper get the best of you, okay? You're going to want to kick his teeth in... And I don't blame you. But... just don't lose it... He's _so_ not worth activation..."

Hope nodded. "Got it..."

The sky soon darkened and was lit with bright stars. They walked until they reached the water pump, but as they had no bucket, they turned back and soon Hope was feeling a tad better. Hayley took vicious pleasure in coming up with awful names for the boy who broke Hope's heart, and soon Hope was giggling though she still had a few tears here and there. They made it back to the tent to see Padma coming back with a Cauldron Cake

"The vendors are out now, though I didn't find Ced-what happened?" Padma asked when she noticed the puffiness of Hope's eyes.

"I'll let you have friend time," Hayley said and disappeared into the tent.

"What happened?" Padma asked again

"Fred..." Hope said with a scowl.

Padma's eyes widened. "He didn't..."

"Yep."

"He's here?"

"No."

"Then how-"

"Owl."

"Ohh! What an ass!" she then pulled Hope into a hug.

"Who's an ass?" a male voice asked and Padma looked up with a happy gasp.

"Cedric!" she gave him a hug which he returned though he stopped when he noticed Hope's sad appearance.

"What happened?"

"Fred dumped me... via owl." Hope said with scowl. Now that she was saying it enough, the sorrow was giving way to anger. That actually felt better...

"Oh... wow... I am sorry..." Cedric said with a wince.

"Just as long as I don't see that fool, I should be good," she said then stopped when the Hufflepuff Seeker scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Yeah... about that... He's here... He came by the same Portkey as I did..."

"Oh shit..." Padma whispered.

Wrath wrapped around her innards as Hope let out a shaky breath. "Where is he?" she asked in a low voice, vaguely aware of the others that had stepped out of the tent.

"Er..." Cedric hesitated. Parvati was standing behind Hope, shaking her head at Cedric, silently pleading for him to stay quiet. "I don't know... but he's not in this campsite with us..."

Hope gave a mirthless smile "I'm going for a walk..."

"Oh, no you don't," Hayley said and she stepped out of the tent, not paying the slightest bit of attention to the new boy. "It's dark and I don't need you losing it. Get in the tent." Her voice left no room for argument.

Hope's nostrils flared and her lips pressed into a hard line and Hayley was struck by how much she resembled Klaus at that moment, especially when enraged. However, Hayley wasn't having it. She gave her child a warning glare when Hope looked ready to disobey her. "Hope, you're still green, don't even _think_ about challenging me."

Hope huffed and whirled on her foot, storming back into the tent and into her room. Hayley sighed and shook her head. _Damn cubs..._ Hayley glanced around at the kids, noticing Padma and Cedric's confused expressions at what she'd said. However, Parvati didn't seem confused... And her heart was beating rather fast... like she was nervous...

_Oh, don't tell me..._

"I'll go keep her company..." Parvati said and disappeared back into the tent, not noticing Hayley's narrowed eyes on her retreating form.

* * *

Hours later, Hayley lie awake on her bed. Varsha, due to wine and food, had fallen asleep as soon as her head had hit the pillow. Rebekah had drifted off as well. Hayley couldn't sleep, she kept turning over the day in her mind. Her daughter's first heartbreak, the challenge in her eyes, those were to be expected. Even unactivated wolves were prone to challenging their parents and elders, and Hope was no different. What was on Hayley's mind was Parvati's reaction to the charged situation... Also, when she thought about it, the girl had been giving Hayley curious glances, more curious than the other girls... Did Hope tell her?

The sound of footsteps caught her attention and she eased out of bed, cracking open the door to spy. Padma was tip-toeing to the flap of the tent and when she returned, it was with the same boy from before. Hayley's enhanced hearing caught their muffled giggles as Padma took him back to her room. Hayley just scoffed. _Bad ass kids..._

"Parv... Parv!" Padma's voice came in a sharp whisper from the room. "Get up..."

"Pad, wha..." Parvati had started, then came an exasperated sigh "Seriously? Fine... I'm going... I'll bug Hope or something. But one of these days, you're going to get caught, and I'm going to laugh..." there were footsteps, the sound of the door shutting quietly and then the awkward sound lips smacking and the scent of pheromones.

_Whatever... not my business..._

To distract her from the awkwardness of hearing two teenagers engaging in a heavy make out session, she focused on Parvati, whom she had been contemplating earlier. The girl had entered Hope's room.

"Hope... Are you up?" Parvati whispered.

"Yeah... What's up? Why aren't you in your room?"

"Cedric's in it..."

"Oh... wow..."

"I know, right... Want to raid the cooler for some food? Your mum's barbecue was amazing..."

A pause, then the creaking of the bed as Hope got up. The two passed Hayley's cracked door as they headed to the kitchen. There was the sound of the two moving around, sneaking food, then the sound of them sitting on the couch. It was a moment before Hope spoke in a low whisper, unaware that her mother could hear every word in the quiet tent as they were right beneath her room.

"How far have they...?" she trailed off and Parvati answered in the same low whisper.

"I know they haven't shagged... Padma says he mainly keeps things above the waist, though she's getting annoyed by it..."

"Ah..." Hope said and there was the sound of chewing. They were quiet as they ate, but Parvati soon spoke, voice with sympathy.

"Hope... I'm really sorry about Fred..."

"Eh..." Hope said with false indifference. "Whatever..."

"But, your mum's right... you needed to stay in here."

"Yeah... yeah... I know..." Hope grumbled as she chewed. "Y'know his damn owl is still here, recuperating? I have half the mind to find that asswipe and throw it him, like 'Here's your lame-ass owl, bitch!' but that'd be mean. It's not Errol's fault his master's a twat."

"You're just lucky it's not that time of the month..." Parvati said and Hope scoffed.

"Actually, it is... And do you have pads? I'm nearly fresh out... And these cramps are kicking my ass... Do you think that dick Snape will ever teach us how to make a Cramp Potion?"

"I have a bunch in my room and I think Madam Pomfrey would be the one you would go to for that..." Parvati said in amusement. "And you know that's not the time of month I was talking about... you're just lucky it's only a waxing moon in Libra... Oh, god... it's going to be nearing full on the return trip... Don't blow up the train or anything... Though, I'm wondering what you would look like... Would you be brown, like your hair or-"

"Eat me, Parv."

"You're all bloody, no... And I'm not your rebound..."

"Bitch!" Hope cried, but she was laughing.

Whatever else was said after that, Hayley didn't hear. She was too busy reeling from the shock as well as anger. Hope had told the girl what she was! What else had she told her?! How could Hope had been so... Ooh! How long did she know? What else did she know?

"Rebekah," Hayley whispered but then stopped. She couldn't tell Rebekah, not now at least when so many people were awake. And she was witch territory right now...

The sounds of footsteps to Hayley the girls had retreated to Hope's room and the conversation turned to various things they were watching on Netflix and Quidditch while Lavender snored softly. Hayley forced herself to take a deep breath and sat at the foot of the bed, wheels turning as she tightened a grip on her anger.

* * *

It wasn't until the first rays of sunlight had caused the inside of the tent to be awash with a pinkish gold light that Hayley finally left her room. Varsha was still out like a light, as was Rebekah. Hayley still hadn't slept a wink. Considering she was a hybrid, she didn't need to sleep as often as humans. She could go up to three days without sleep before it actually bothered her.

She eased into the kitchen to rustle up something for breakfast, mind going over what she was going to do about Hope and Parvati, when she heard movement. She stepped into the living room, thinking it was the girls, only to stop when she saw it was Padma and Cedric.

The teens froze when they saw her, looking like deer caught in the headlights, and Hayley just arched her brows at them.

"Good morning..." she said knowingly and Padma stammered.

"Erm... Hayley... I..."

Hayley waved an impatient hand. "Chill out, I'm not going to tell on you. But, you'd better scram, don't you think?" Hayley said to Cedric who nodded awkwardly

Padma practically deflated in relief. "Hayley, you are the coolest parent ever..."

"Yeah, yeah... Scram before you make me regret it."

The two didn't need to be told twice and were gone as if they had been Banished. It was right then that Rebekah finally emerged from her room, yawning.

"Good morning..." she stopped and sniffed. "Who was-"

"Padma," Hayley said with a shake of her head.

"Horny little brats..." Rebekah scoffed as she grabbed herself a bottled water.

"That's so the least of our problems..." Hayley sighed then spoke lowly so only the vampire would hear her "Hope told Parvati about her being a wolf..."

"What?!" Rebekah gasped in a harsh whisper.

"I heard them talking last night about moons and shit... And I have no idea what to do... What else do you think she knows?"

Rebekah pinched the bridge of her nose. She should have _known_ something was up. "And here I thought the reason she was being all secretive was because of her boyfriend... We can't hurt her, she's a child... And I get the feeling she won't say anything because she feels she owes Hope for saving her... Still, one of us should question her. And, I think it should be you. See what she knows. I'll have a talk with Hope..."

Hayley nodded her agreement and the two stepped into the living room, both shaking their heads at the lingering scent of pheromones.

"And when you're done with Hope, I need to have a _talk_ with her, too..."

At that moment Hope and Parvati filed out of their room and Hayley took a breath. "Hope, help your Aunt Bex with breakfast."

"Okay..." she went into the kitchen without argument.

Parvati went to follow her but Hayley stopped her. "We need more water... Come with me to the pump? I don't know where it is."

Judging by the way the girl's heartbeat jumped she knew that was a lie. However, to her credit she nodded and exited the tent, Hayley following.

In the kitchen, Rebekah wasted no time. "So... been running your mouth to Parvati, have you?"

Hope dropped the loaf of bread that was in her hands. "What?"

"Don't lie... Your mother heard your whole conversation last night. Vampires and hybrids hear everything. You need to ask Minerva about Silencing Spells one of this days, for future reference... But, that's not the point. What the Hell were you thinking? Why would you tell her? What else does she know?"

"Should you really be talking about this here?" Hope countered.

"Varsha and Lavender are dead to the world, I can hear their snores from here. Now, answer my question. What all did you tell her?"

Hope twiddled her thumbs and wanted to sink into the floor. "She just knows that people with the gene aren't a myth... and that I'm one of them... and so's Mom... She doesn't know about you, she thinks you're a Squib, along with Uncle Elijah. She doesn't know about any... vampy stuff... She knows I can heal because I fixed her when that vampire attacked her, but she thinks that's a wolf thing..." she then began to speak earnestly "And she won't tell anyone. She spent half the year making certain I didn't do anything stupid, like, kill somebody. She pulled me out of every fight she could, put Cheering Charms on me when I lost my temper so I'd become a giggling idiot... I was so awful to her during final exams and she didn't turn on me..."

Rebekah fumed but took in her words. Parvati, if she had been going to such lengths to keep Hope from turning, could be trusted with this at least. She knew the girl didn't mind werewolves due to the way she had lamented about the loss of Professor Lupin during the car ride, stating loudly "Who cares if he's a wolf! He was the best teacher ever... and he was hot... in a weird way..." And the other girls readily agreed while their mother had shaken her head in amusement.

"That's why Mom wanted her to go with her..." Hope said suddenly, eyes widening in realization and she bristled, looking frighteningly Klaus-like "What are you going to do to her?"

"Hope, she just wants to talk to her. Now, get started on the toast while I make the eggs."

Hope scowled but did as she was told, clearly fighting to keep a handle on her anger. She went about buttering the bread and grabbing the skillet so she could make a fire outside to cook. Outside, other witches and wizards were rising and were setting about making fires the Muggle way. Some looked at their matches with skeptical looks while others glanced around for Ministry workers before casting fire charms to start their fires.

Hope started a fire easily with the matches, but kept glancing around for any sign of her mom and Parvati.

* * *

Hayley and Parvati had walked to the pump to get a pale of water. Hayley eyed the girl shrewdly, noting the pounding of her heart. She looked calm enough on the outside, trying for a look of haughty indifference that Hayley found she could admire. Gryffindors certainly had nerve, she'd give them that.

Hayley opened her mouth to speak but Parvati beat her to it. "I'm not going tell anyone..." she squeaked out. "I've kept quiet since New Years... Mum, Dad, Padma and Lavender don't even know..."

Well, that made it easier if she already knew why she was here. They had finally reached the pump, but Hayley veered off toward the woods, motioning for Parvati to follow her. After a careful glance around, seeing, hearing or smelling no one else nearby, she took motioned for Parvati to sit on top of a fallen log, but the girl stayed standing.

"Fine, I'll sit. I'm not going to hurt you."

Parvati relaxed a bit but not entirely. Hayley took a seat and soon Parvati joined her but kept a careful distance, keeping her hands in the pockets of her hoodie.

"And you can quit gripping your wand, you won't need it. I said I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk. You found out on New Years? How."

"She promised she'd tell me on after the thing with the vampire... She..." Parvati glanced around to see if anyone was listening, "she... healed me. That vampire had took a giant bite from my neck..."

Hayley's head snapped up at that. She revealed her vampire side, too? "How did she heal you? With a spell?" she asked, keeping her voice level.

"No... not with a spell... And she told me it was because she was a... a cursed wolf... that they could all do that..."

Hayley relaxed a bit at that. So, she had saved her friend but kept quiet about her vampiric side. She supposed she couldn't be too upset at her if she knew enough to keep quiet about that... Though she was still pretty pissed.

"I haven't told anyone. When she told me what had to happen to activate the curse, I did all I could to keep her from freaking out and accidentally activating it. She saved my life and she's my best friend, I'd never betray her."

Hayley regarded the girl appraisingly, her senses searching for any tell-tale sign of a lie, but she found none. "I believe you... And you can't tell anyone, understand me?"

"I know..." Parvati nodded.

After a few tense moments, Hayley stood and Parvati followed suit. The silence between them was thick as they made their way to the campsite. However, Hayley broke it well enough.

"Before we get back, point out this little Weasleton shit to me..." she said as a boy rushed past them in the opposite direct.

"Are you going to kill him?" Parvati asked though there was a note of humor in her voice.

"Debatable..."

Now they both smiled. However, Parvati's was soon wiped from her face and replaced with a scowl. "Ugh..."

"What?"

"Parkinson..."

"The little cow that started those rumors?"

"Yep."

Hayley looked in the direction of Parvati's glare, spotting a hard faced brunette girl on the other side of the nearest tent, which was the one with the flock of peacocks. She peaked in the tent, as if to check that someone was still distracted or asleep, and she bounded off toward the woods Hayley and Parvati had just exited.

"Probably going to meet with Malfoy..." Parvati said with a shrug.

Hayley focused her eyes as the girl disappeared into the trees. The girl in question was currently getting pretty heated with the boy that had rushed past them a few moments ago. Lord, all these brats thought about was making out and feeling each other up.

That reminded her of the other talk she needed to have with Hope...

"Come on, let's get back before all the food's gone."

They returned, minus water, to the tent to find Hope sitting outside with an anxious look on her face. She visibly relaxed when she saw them, probably worried for Parvati.

"You okay?" she asked her friend, and the other girl nodded.

"I'm fine... she just wanted to talk... Is your aunt upset with you?"

"Probably..."

"Should I talk to her...?" Parvati asked tentatively. She was far less afraid of talking with Rebekah than with Hayley, thinking the blond was a Squib. If she only knew...

"Maybe later... Your mom's already awake. I think Aunt Bex is talking with her about Muggle fashion... Lavender's up, too... She's a little upset but trying to hide it..."

"Ohh dear... I'll go sit with her..." Parvati then disappeared into the tent.

There was a tense silence as Hope and Hayley were left alone.

"Are you going to yell at me?" Hope asked finally.

"No... She told me what happened. I'm mad you blabbed, but-"

"She's my best friend, I couldn't let her die," Hope said in a harsh whisper "And I'm not apologizing because I'm not sorry I saved her; this is why I'm in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin."

Hayley let out a breath through her nose and motioned for her to walk with her. The took a different path this time, looking at the many tents they didn't see before.

"I'm not surprised you saved her... and I'm proud of you, even if I am mad you told her..."

"She won't say anything," Hope insisted.

"I know she won't... I can tell... she really cares about you." Though, Hayley made a mental note _not_ to tell Elijah and Klaus; she couldn't be sure they wouldn't hurt the girl. "Does anyone else know?"

_Just an innocent convicted murder, my former teacher who's a werewolf and he knows who I really am... Possibly my other dorm-mate and this kid who saved my life twice, once by time traveling... _

"No..."

"You didn't tell that Weasleton boy, did you?"

Now Hope scoffed though her heart clenched at the thought of the older Gryffindor boy. "No..." She felt a suspicious prickle in her eyes and she angrily swiped at them.

Hayley sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Hey... he's so not worth the tears... Dumping my baby by pigeon... Who does that?"

"It technically was an owl..."

"Whatever. Still a dick move. Right up there with breakup by texts..."

"Ugh..."

Hayley then recalled the other thing she needed to talk to her daughter about. "Hope... I've been seeing more kids messing around than I care to today... and so I'm just going to ask you... You and that boy didn't-"

"MOM!" Hope shrieked, flushing furiously.

"Well?" Hayley prompted shamelessly, brow raised.

"No!"

"You still have your V-card?"

"Oh my god... Yes!" Hope now hid her face in her hands. She almost preferred the tenseness from earlier. God, this was embarrassing.

"Good. Just promise me you'll be careful, because there are... hereditary side effects..."

"I know about the anger."

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the extreme bouts of horniness."

Hope's eyes popped and she turned to her mom in astonishment. "What?"

Hayley gave a slight embarrassed sigh. "Yeah, anger isn't the only base instinct we're prone to giving in to..."

Hope scratched the back of her head awkwardly, recalling that day in that giant storeroom with Fred and how riled up she had been that she had pretty much pounced him. It had been a full moon that night, too...

Hayley's eyes narrowed at the flustered look on her daughter's face and was pretty sure that while she didn't sleep with this Fred kid, something did happen. Granted, she could hardly talk considering some of the shenanigans she had gotten into at fourteen. Compared to her, Hope was probably an angel. But, she didn't have anyone to tell her about what being a wolf meant physically. When she was still untriggered she had lost count of the number of times she had sneaked a boy into the garage to make-out among other things. Then when she had activated the curse she had pretty much become insatiable... Heaven forbid that ovulation happened around the same time the moon was waxing to full...

"Just promise me you'll be careful... it's bad enough for..._most_ girls..." she said, and knew Hope meant she was talking about regular human girls "their hormones are all jumping around down there and they don't know what to do with them. We have it worse... Especially after the... _changes._.. And I'll let you know now, that's when it gets _way_ worse. So, try to be careful, because other than the guilt of hurting someone, and the pain .. the animal instincts can make you crazy."

Hope wanted nothing more than to run away, screaming but she forced herself to nod. "Right... got it..."

Hayley then lowered her voice to a whisper, though everyone around them was immersed in their own conversations, chasing misbehaving children and sneaking and doing magic that it was probably pointless. "Good... Because, I don't care what species they are... wolf, warlock, wizard, human... those shitty little boys are only after one thing... found that out when I was thirteen and in the middle of a waxing moon fit... Seriously, be careful because it may sneak up on you and you might give some little idiot the best day of his life, and while he's counting his lucky stars, you're wondering 'why' and 'what the hell?'"

"Oh my god, I need to be anywhere else..." Hope groaned. She really didn't need to know about her mom's sex life! "Can I go back to the tent?" _And die of awkwardness... _She then stopped, recalling something her mom said. "Wait... What kids did you see messing around? Padma and Cedric?"

"Mhm... oh, and Parvati showed me that little Pansy bitch. She was getting all hot and heavy with some boy in the trees..."

"Malfoy," Hope said as the conversation turned easy.

People now really beginning to become active. Now that they had settled the important issues, they could really take a good look at all of the amazing things around them. A small girl of about two had teetered out of tent shaped like a small castle and was happily making the grass dance with a wand, though her father came out and stopped her.

"Janice! You don't mess with your mum's wand!"

"I want the dancing gwass!" the girl cried as her father took the wand from her.

A few feet away at another tent, two small witches were riding two broomsticks that levitated. Hayley watched with interest, remembering what everyone had told her about Quidditch. Granted, the brooms only rose high enough for the girls' feet to brush the grass. A Ministry wizard had spotted them, though and rushed past Hope and Hayley, grumbling "In broad daylight! Parents having a lie in, I suppose-"

Adult witches and wizards were coming from their tents as well, lighting more fires with their wands when they weren't supposed to. All around there were other witches and wizards of other countries. Australian witches were happily conversing by their tents which all bore the country's flag. Caribbean wizards were cooking meat over a fire that was green.

And speaking of green...

Hayley blinked when she walked into a patch of tents that were all covered with a thick growth of shamrocks so that it looked as if oddly shaped hills had sprouted.

"_Oh_, there you are!"

"Hope! I thought you weren't coming!"

Hope turned and smiled. "Seamus!" Then her brows rose. "Lav, I thought you were in our tent?...

Lavender was standing next to the boy they had met in Diagon Alley the other day. He was sitting in front of his own shamrock covered tent with a sandy haired woman and a tall black boy Hope seemed to know as well. They both glanced at Lavender and Seamus with barely concealed smirks before Hope introduced him.

"Dean, this is my mom, Hayley."

Dean goggled at her, much like Seamus did before but managed to introduce himself.

"Like the decorations?" Seamus asked happily. "The Ministry won't be happy."

"I like them," Lavender said, smiling wider than she had in days.

"And why shouldn't we show our colors? You should see what the Bulgarians have on _their_ tents," Mrs. Finnigan said as she shook hands with Hayley. "You'll be supporting Ireland, of course?" she asked and Hayley nodded when Hope gave her a small elbow to the ribs.

"Like I'd say anything else..." Hayley muttered when they finally left the Finnigans, Lavender walking along with them, to head back to the tent.

The day passed well enough. As the time went on the tension of the morning's events seemed to have melted away with the sun rising ever higher. When lunch rolled around, Hayley was back at the grill and a few people had been drawn by the smell of the food.

One such person was Oliver Wood, who had just left Hogwarts and had discreetly shoved a piece of parchment in Hope's hand, along with Lavender and Parvati's. It was an invite for his post graduation/acceptance to Puddlemore United Quidditch team. The flier promised much fun and alcohol. Hope made a mental note to see if she could sneak away when the day for the party came.

Fey Dunbar, Hope's dorm mate, also came by to quietly say hi before disappearing. Then, to Parvati and Lavender's delight and Hope's embarrassment, Ernie Macmillan had come over with Justin Finch-Fletchy. And considering the way Parvati had dragged Justin away to talk about Muggle shows while Lavender ducked in the tent, it was clear they were hoping the Hufflepuff would eventually take Hope's mind off of her recent breakup. And it didn't help that Hayley kept looking between them with a raised brow.

"So... uh... Ernie, huh?" Hayley teased when the Hufflepuffs had left.

"There's so not anything there, Mom.. He's sweet and all, b-"

"He asked you out when Fred pulled that 'break' rubbish," Parvati reminded her.

"He pulled the 'break' crap, too?" Hayley scoffed as she set a shish kabob on the grill and then went to open herself a chocolate frog "Oh, he sounds like a turd, you're better off."

"I think Hope's more into brunettes more than blonds, if you ask me..." Lavender said as she eagerly waited with her empty plate.

"What?" Hope asked.

"Or would does jet black even count as brunette...?" Lavender wondered slyly.

"Huh?" Hope asked.

Lavender only smiled, raised her hand and traced the shape of a lightning bolt over her own brow.

"Oh, shut up! There's _really_ nothing there," Hope flushed as she scooped herself a helping of potato salad. "Besides, he has a girlfriend..."

Lavender said nothing but kept a knowing smirk on her face as she took a bite of a kabob.

"WHAT THE-"

They all jumped and looked up. Hayley was now standing on one of the chairs as the chocolate frog jumped across the tent.

"Mom, it's cool. It's just spelled to do that," Hope said as everyone else doubled over with laughter. "Here, try some Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans..."

Hayley climbed off the chair and took a bean and Hope got another laugh when her mother's face scrunched up.

"This tastes like grass..." She ate another. "This tastes like apple pie and... urgh! Is that earwax?"

"They mean every flavor..."

By the time dusk settled over the campsite there was a palpable sense of excitement in the air. And when darkness settled, the wizards and witches gave up on pretending to be Muggles and were blatantly using magic. Mrs. Patil had transfigured everyone's clothing so the Irish flag was shimmering brightly on the fronts and backs of their shirts and jackets.

"Just go with it..." Hope told her aunt and mother.

Salesmen were apparating every few feet, carrying trays and pushing carts full of the most bizarre merchandise she had ever seen. There were rosettes of green for Ireland and red for Bulgaria, which squealed the names of the players. Rebekah, finally giving into the atmosphere, bought herself a leprechaun hat that was decked with dancing shamrocks fluttering around the brim. Mrs. Patil had bought the women sparkling shamrock necklaces that played the Irish national anthem. They girls then wandered to another vendor further along the way.

"Ooh! Look at these!" Lavender said as they passed a vendor who was selling what looked like brass binoculars with all sorts of dials and knobs.

"Omnioculars," the saleswizard said to the girls. "You can replay action, slow everything down, and they flash up a play-by-play breakdown if you need it. Ten Galleons each."

They each got a set and then hurried back to get one last plate of food. Hope found her mom happily waving a small Irish flag that also blasted the anthem when waved. Padma had finally returned and was making certain the dark hickey she sported was covered by many shamrock necklaces. Mrs. Patil was finishing off another kabob while Hayley and Rebekah were still examining their magical merchandise with the expressions of delighted children.

And then at once a deep, booming gong sounded from somewhere beyond the woods, and green and red lanterns blazed to life in the trees, lighting a path to the field.

"It's time!" Mrs. Patil cheered, practically bouncing like a little girl. "Come on, let's go!"

Everyone scrambled to collect their purchases and Mrs. Patil led them all down the lantern-lit trail. All around them were the sounds of thousands of people, laughter, snatches of singing. The excitement in the air was contagious and son Hope caught the bug, unable to stop smiling. They walked through the woods for over twenty minutes, happily chattering about the highlights of the matches between other countries that had led up to this point, until at last they emerged on the other side and found themselves in the shadow of a gigantic stadium.

"Holy-" Hayley's voice sounded from next to her.

Hayley's mouth had dropped at the sight of the immense gold walls surrounding the field. "Have you ever seen anything like this?" she asked Rebekah.

"No..." Rebekah was equally astonished. It took a lot to shock her, after a thousand years of living, but this was a _lot._

"Seats a hundred thousand," Hayley heard someone say a few feet behind her and she turned to see a redheaded man talking to bespectacled boy with dark hair. "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles get anywhere near it, they suddenly remember urgent appointments and had to dash away..."

_Wow! _That was all Hayley could think. _Wow. _

They went to one of the entrances where Mrs. Patil handed the Ministry wizard her tickets.

"Prime seats! Top Box! Straight upstairs, Varsha, and as high as you can go."

They rushed up the stairs that were coated in rich purple. Hayley, Rebekah and Hope couldn't stop looking this way and that, taking in the sights of everything around them. They were all so enthralled that they barely noticed the long climb until at last they reached very top and found themselves in a small box, set at the highest pint of the stadium, situated between the golden goal posts.

* * *

Already in the top box, Harry, Hermione and the Weasley children, all seven of them and their father, all looked around in amazement when Harry noticed a small creature in the second to last seat at the end of the row behind them. The small creature was wearing a tea towel draped like a toga, and it had its face hidden in its hands. It also had long, batlike ears which were familiar...

"Dobby?" Harry asked in surprise.

The creature removed its fingers from its eyes and Harry saw that it wasn't Dobby, but it was indeed a house-elf, as Harry's friend Dobby had been. Harry had set Dobby free from the Malfoy family at the end of his second year.

"Did sir just call me Dobby?" squeaked the elf in such a high voice that Harry suspected this one was a female.

Ron and Hermione turned in their seats to get a good look at the elf. They had heard a lot about the elf, Dobby, but had never actually met him. Mr. Weasley also looked around in interest.

"Sorry... I just thought you were someone I new," Harry said to the elf.

"But I knows Dobby too, sir! My name is Winky, sir- and you sir- is Harry Potter!" her eyes widened as they rested on his scar.

"Yeah, I am..."

"But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!" she said, looking awestruck.

"How's he doing?" Harry asked. "How's freedom suiting him."

Winky shook her head, "Ah, sir... meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free."

"Why?" Harry asked, taken aback. "What's wrong with him?"

"Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir. Ideas above his station, sir. Can't get another position, sir, because he is wanting paying for his work, sir..." she said the last bit as if she were telling a revolting piece of gossip.

"Why shouldn't he be paid?" Harry asked blankly.

Winky looked horrified at the idea. "House-elves is not paid, sir! No, no, I says to Dobby. I says, go find yourself a nice family and settle down, Dobby. He is getting up to all sorts of high jinks, sire, what is unbecoming to a house-elf. I says to him, Dobby you goes racketing around like this and next I hear you's up in front of the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common goblin. House-elves is supposed to does as told, Harry Potter, sir. I is not liking heights at all but my master sends me to save his seat. Winky is wishing she is back in master's tent, Harry Potter, but Winky does as told. Winky is a good house-elf."

She gave the edge of the box a frightened look and then hid her eyes completely again.

"So, that's a house-elf?" Ron asked as they all turned back in their seats. "Weird..."

"Dobby was weirder..." Harry said and looked up as a group of women entered the box.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the box, Hayley was having the time of her life.

"How'd you get such epic seats?" Hayley asked Mrs. Patil as she gazed around in awe.

"My husband works at St. Mungo's Hospital as a Healer. He has many contacts in the Ministry due to his work."

Hope was barely listening, she was peering down into the stadium (and trying to ignore her uneasiness when it came to heights) where a hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. There was a strange golden light that bathed everything, and the light seemed to come from the stadium itself. From their high position, the field looked as smooth as velvet. At either end of the field stood three gold hoops, fifty feet high. Across from their position was a giant blackboard that flashed gold advertisements

_Gladrags Wizard wear-London, Paris, Hogsmeade...Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans... a surprise in each box!_

"Hope, Parvati! Hi! Lavender, hi!"

Hope looked up at the familiar voice and turned to see a bushy mane of brown hair at the end of the box. Hermione was here and seated next to Harry, who grinned and waved at them. Hope and her friends waved as well, though Hope's stomach lurched when she caught sight of Ron and Ginny Weasley. If they were here then...

"Uh-oh..." Parvati muttered and linked her arm through Hope's to keep her in her seat.

Hope's eyes landed on Fred who was chattering animatedly with his twin, without a care in the world. For one awful moment she wanted to cry, wanted to demand why...

"Hope, don't give him the satisfaction..." Lavender said firmly.

Hayley, who had been looking down at the stadium, looked up at those words. "Is he up here?" she asked, noting the tremulous expression on her daughter's face. "Parvati, point him out."

"Right there," she said, pointing discreetly to one of two tall redhead boys that were identical. "The one next to the small redheaded girl."

Hayley's lips pursed and she elbowed Rebekah. The Original nodded and scoffed before leaning toward Hope. "Is that him?"

"Yeah..." Hope turned her eyes back toward the flashing blackboard.

"How old is he?" Hayley asked and Hope sighed.

"Sixteen..."

Rebekah gave her a raised brow but glanced back at the boy. "He looks like a secondhand store vomited on him, I'm going to need you to leave him alone."

Hope's lips twitched at that.

At the other end of the box, Harry watched as Parvati had linked arms with Hope and kept her seated. He also saw a pretty woman he didn't recognize glance in their direction with a slight scowl, elbow Hope's aunt who nodded and said something to Hope who then gave a weak smile. What had that been about?

"Fred, y'know Hope's up here, right?" Ron said, putting down his omnioculars to turn to his brother.

When Fred looked like a deer in the headlights and gave a quick glance in the direction of the women but did not get up, Harry knew something was up. Were they having another row again?

"Are they fighting again?" Hermione asked him and Harry shrugged. She then got up, apparently to go say hi again. He watched as Hope introduced her to her aunt and the other woman, whom Harry was betting was Hope's mother due to the matching hair and bone structure. Parvati also introduced Hermione to a woman he was sure was her and Padma's mother before Hermione tugged Hope to speak in private. Hermione's expression was one of mild concern and Hope's was one of anger. He couldn't hear her words but soon Hermione's mouth dropped and she then looked over at Fred with a look of pure female disgust. Harry turned to Fred and tapped him.

"Okay, what did you do?" he asked, gesturing to the angry girls a few feet away from them.

Fred grimaced and sort of slouched in his seat. "I... broke up with her. It wasn't working and I don't feel the same way so I figured it best to just end it quick."

Harry's eyes widened and George, Ron and Ginny all turned to look at their brother in surprise.

"You did it today of all days?" George asked. "When was this? Because I didn't see her anywhere today..."

"Oh, no... it was yesterday..." Hermione said, returning to her seat with that same look on her face. "He sent Errol with a breakup letter and it flew to her tent last night."

"Oh, Fred, you didn't!" Ginny cried.

"Well... I figured it was best to just get it out the way... And it's not like I knew she'd be here..." Fred said awkwardly.

"She's best friends with the daughters of the best Healer in St. Mungo's, and she had saved one of them; of course she'd be here," George said with a shake of his head.

"I don't get what's the big deal..." Ron said. "Yeah, it's bad they broke up but if it wasn't working, what's the point?"

"Because breaking up by owl... It's just... urgh!" Hermione busied herself with her program.

Harry, deciding it was none of his business, turned back to the field. He picked up his velvet covered tasseled program to find something to busy himself with.

"Hey... A display from the team mascots will precede the match," he read aloud.

Luckily for Fred, Mr. Weasley hadn't heard what had happened, the box was filling gradually with more people and he had stayed busy, shaking hands with some important wizards, as well as a woman who Harry was certain was Parvati and Padma's mother, Hope's aunt and the woman he had yet to meet. Harry could hear how enthused he was at meeting someone from Muggle society, and the women were clearly trying not to laugh.

"Hayley, you said? And Rebekah? I'm Arthur Weasley. Pleased to meet you both! Can I ask, are there any differences in how British Muggles and American-"

Percy hadn't heard what happened either as he was constantly hopping to his feet to meet people. Bill, the oldest of the Weasley children, gave Fred a slight unimpressed look while Charlie shook his head. They had heard everything.

Soon, the Minister of Magic himself arrived and Percy had bowed so low that his glasses slipped from his face and broke. He repaired them with his wand, ears red with embarrassment and then threw jealous looks at Harry, whom the Minister greeted like an old friend. He then introduced Harry to the wizards on either sides of him.

"Harry Potter, you know," he told the Bulgarian minister loudly, who was wearing robes of black velvet trimmed with gold and didn't seem to understand a word of English. "Harry Potter... oh come now, you know who he is... the boy who survived You-Know-Who..."

The Bulgarian wizard suddenly spotted Harry's scar and started jabbering excitedly.

"Knew we'd get there eventually," said Fudge wearily to Harry. "I'm no good with languages... I need Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah, good, his house-elf saved his seat... Ah! And here's Lucius!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione turned quickly. Edging along the second row to four empty seats right behind Mr. Weasley was Lucius Malfoy, Draco with his arm around Pansy Parkinson and a blond woman that must've been Draco's mother.

In her seat, Hope turned and scowled when she saw her nemesis. Their eyes met and Pansy smirked when she saw Fred was seated quite far from Hope. She elbowed Draco lightly and whispered something to him which had him smirking gleefully. Hope felt Parvati's hand tighten on hers warningly.

"I'm cool..." she said tightly.

"Ah, Fudge," Mr. Malfoy said as he shook the Minister's hand. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco? This here is his dear friend, Pansy Parkinson."

The Minister smiled and bowed to Mrs. Malfoy and introduced them to the Bulgarian Minister of Magic. "He can't understand a word I'm saying, so never mind... And let's see... You know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"

Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy glared at each other and Harry knew why. Before his second year had started, the two men had gotten into a fight in Flourish and Blotts bookshop. Mr. Malfoy's gray eyes swept over Mr. Weasley, then down the row to the slew of redheads, Harry and Hermione. "Good lord, Arthur..." he said softly "Top Box seats? What did you have to sell? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"

Fudge hadn't heard what was said, he was busy singing Mr. Malfoy's praises about a generous donation he had made to St. Mungo's Hospital. Curious, Harry glanced at Parvati's mother to see her reaction and was pleased to see she was exchanging a bored look with Rebekah. Mrs. Malfoy sneered at them both and Rebekah only returned the look with a mocking smile.

Mr. Malfoy's eyes had then slid to Hermione and she went pink but stared back at him. The man's lip curled and Harry wanted to punch the pureblood racist. However, he then gave Mr. Weasley a sneering nod and settled into his seat. Draco threw a contemptuous look at Harry, Ron and Hermione and settled next to his parents, directly behind Hope. The girl's face scrunched as if she had a troublesome wedgie.

"Great, I wondering why my butt was starting to itch..." Hope whispered to Parvati and Lavender who bit back snickers. Next moment, a large blond man with a rosy face and wide blue eyes bounded into the box and Lavender broke into a scowl.

"That's Ludo Bagman," Parvati whispered to Hope and her eyes widened. That's the man who was boning her friend's mom and ruined their marriage? Awkward...

"Everyone ready?" the man asked excitedly. "Minister, ready to go?"

"Ready when you are, Ludo."

The man pulled out his wand, directed it at his own throat and said "Sonorus!" and then spoke over the roar of the crowd; his voice echoed over them, booming into every corner of the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen... welcome!"

Both Hayley and Rebekah looked at the man in shock, not expecting such a spell or even knowing one existed.

"Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

**And, I'm going to end it here because it is insanely late and I am sleepy... I'm not too pleased with this chapter, really, but I always knew the Quidditch World Cup chapter wouldn't be my favorite... But, some major things have happened that need to happen which is what I was going for. I'm hoping to have the next installment up in the next couple of days. **


	25. Chapter 25

**Thank you all again for the wonderful reviews! **

**Okay! I woke up inspired, had myself two cups of coffee and a cup of tea. I'm wired! Let's do this! It's 12/02/15 and 8:03 AM, let's see how long it takes for me to finish this chapter.**

The spectators screamed and clapped as Bagman announced the start of the Cup. Flags waved and a cacophony of national anthems added to the noise. The huge blackboard cleared it's last advertisement and now showed BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce... the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

The right side of the stands, which was solid scarlet, roared its approval.

"I wonder what they brought..." Mrs. Patil asked then she rolled her eyes. "Oh, lord... this is about to get amusing... They brought veela..."

"What are-" Hope started but then stopped when the veela came onto the field.

Rebekah and Hayley leaned forward to get a better look and their brows rose as a hundred of the most beautiful women anyone had ever seen strode onto the field.

"They can't be human..." Rebekah groused cattily.

Hope agreed with her aunt, scowling with jealousy as she watched them. Their skin shown as bright as a full moon, their silver-gold hair fanned out behind them without the aide of wind... The music started, they began to dance, she heard what sounded like the enraptured sighs of some of the men in the box and she scoffed. _Really_?

Hayley watched them dance, impressed and envious of their beauty, but not getting the big deal about the dance. She'd seen more impressive dancing during Happy Hour at Rousseau's.

"Wait for it..." Mrs. Patil said with a smile, but she wasn't watching the veela, she was watching the men in the box. Hayley and Rebekah followed suit and gave startled laughs.

"Did all the men suddenly get stupid?" Hayley asked, looking around flabbergasted.

Hope turned in her seat and her mouth dropped. Mr. Weasley, Percy and two other redheaded young men had their hands clamped over their ears, as did the Bulgarian Minister, Fudge and Mr. Malfoy. However, Harry, Ron, Fred and George all had dazed looks on their faces as they watched the veela dance. She risked a glance behind her and saw that Draco had the same stupified look on his face. Hope noted the girls and women seemed unaffected. What was going on?

"Draco! What-" Pansy's voice started.

"Draco, what are you doing? Sit down!" Mrs. Malfoy's voice sounded behind them.

Hope turned and couldn't help a laugh when she saw Draco looked ready to spring from the box. And he wasn't the only one. Ron looked poised to dive from a board, Harry had his foot on the edge of the box, propped as if to jump.

"Harry, what are you doing!?" Hermione's voice snapped as she pulled him back to sit.

"Hope, look!" Parvati shrieked, giggling madly.

Hope swung her omnioculars in the direction Parvati was pointing. A man in the lower stands had stripped down to his boxers and was trying to get closer to the veela, a woman, probably his wife had to restrain him.

"Mom, look!" Hope handed Hayley her omnioculars.

Hayley looked, paused then broke into hysterical cackles. "Thank god your dad and uncle aren't here... Who knows what would happen!"

The music stopped, the veela stopped dancing and the crowd roared in anger. Rebekah's brows rose as she watched the behavior of the affected boys. "Did they compel them into supporting Bulgaria?" she muttered to Hope.

Hope had wonder if they did as she looked around at all the idiot boys. Draco had tossed away his Irish flag. Harry had yanked off his rosette and Ron was shredding the shamrocks on his hat.

"Oh, my God... the thirst is _real_," Hope scoffed in awe at how idiotic boys were.

"Veela... their Charm tends to make men and boys quite dumb..." Mrs. Patil said as she shook her head in exasperation.

"And now," Bagman's voice boomed over the crowd "kindly put your wands in the air... for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

At that moment, what looked like a green and gold comment came whizzing into the stadium. It circled the stadium once, then split into two smaller comets, each whizzing toward the goal posts. A rainbow suddenly arced across the field, connecting the two balls of light. Hayley and Rebekah whooped and clapped, far more impressed by the light display than by the veela show. The rainbow then faded and te balls of light reunited and merged; they formed a giant, shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands. A strange golden rain fell from it-

"HOLY CRAP!" Hayley yelled as the shamrock soared over them, and heavy gold coins rained from it, bouncing off their heads and seats. She then stood, craning her neck to get a good look at the shamrock and Rebekah followed suit. They saw that it was actually comprised of thousands of tiny little bearded men with red vests, each carrying a small lamp of gold or green.

"Are those..." Rebekah gasped in shock.

"Leprechauns!" said the redheaded man over the roar of the crowd.

Hayley and Rebekah looked at each other in shock. Leprechauns were real!? They turned to Hope but found she, and her friends, were busily shoving gold coins in all of their pockets, hats, and even their bras. The two women quickly followed suit.

"Now, that's what I call making it rain!" Hayley said happily as she adjusted her bra full of gold.

The shamrock then dissolved, the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite of the veela and settled to watch the match.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome- the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you- Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaannnnnddd- Krum!"

The Bulgarian side of the field erupted into tremendous applause as did the Bulgarians in the box with them. Figures on broomsticks shot out so fast that they were blurred and Hayley and Rebekah's mouths dropped. They had heard about the broomsticks, but actually seeing it! And they were _so fast!_

"Is it like that at your school?" Hayley asked Hope, unable to take her eyes off the field.

"No way... This is insane!" Hope told her.

"And now, please greet- the Irish National Quidditch Team!" Bagman yelled "Presenting – Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaannnd- _Lynch!"_

Seven green blurs swept onto the field! As they were supporting Ireland, Hope and company rose to applause and cheer the team as they circled the field.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"

A small and skinny wizard in robes of gold strode out onto the stadium. He carried a broomstick in one hand and a crate in the other. The man then mounted his broomstick and kicked open the crate, four balls flew into the air: a scarlet one the size of a soccer ball, two black ones and the tiny golden winged ball. Mostafa shot into the air after the balls and gave a sharp blast of his whistle.

"Theeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman and he began to call out plays.

"Okay... so, let me see if I got this right... The ones throwing the red ball are Chasers?" Hayley asked Hope.

"Yeah... The ones by the hoops are Keepers. It's like basketball in the air. The Keepers block the Chasers from scoring," Hope explained as she pressed her omnioculars to her face to keep up.

The speed of the players was amazing! Hope loved the girls on the Gryffindor House team, but lord, this was epic! The Chasers were tossing the Quaffle to each other so fast that Bagman only had time to say their names. Her omnioculars flashed the names of the plays, such as the _Hawkshead Attacking Formation_ performed by the Irish Chasers, and the _Porskoff Ploy. _Troy made a move to dart up with the Quaffle, drawing away the Bulgarian Chaser, and dropped the Quaffle to Moran. A Bulgarian Beater knocked a passing Bludger into Moran's path; Moran ducked, dropped the Quaffle, and Levski caught it-

"TROY SCORES! TEN ZERO TO IRELAND!"

"Huh?!" Hope yelled confused. "But, the Bulgarians had the Quaffle!"

"Hope, you need to watch the match at normal speed or you'll miss everything!" Parvati shouted as she waved her Irish flag.

Down on the field, the leprechauns rose to form the shamrock in celebration while the veela sulked. Hope huffed and set her dial back to normal. Ten minutes later, the score was thirty to zero with Ireland in the lead.

This was Hayley's first time at anything like this but she knew the Chasers were excellent; they worked like a well oiled machine, or a well organized hunting pack if one wanted to use wolf speak.

"Ouch!" Hayley winced in sympathy when a Bulgarian knocked one of those black balls into an Irish Chaser. "What are those again?"

"Bludgers," Hope told her "and the guys with the clubs are Beaters. They knock those around to mess up the other team."

Bulgaria finally scored a goal and the veela began to dance in celebration. Hope glanced around to see if the boys would do anything stupid, but saw they all had their hands over their ears and Harry even had his eyes shut. The match resumed and Bulgaria was in possession of the Quaffle.

"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova- Oh, I say!"

The crowd gave a collective gasp as the two Seekers plummeted through the center of the Chasers, so fast that it looked like they had jumped from planes.

"Where's the Snitch!?" Parvati cried as she peered with her omnioculars.

"They're going to crash!" Hayley screamed.

At that moment the Bulgarians Seeker pulled out of his dive and spiraled off while the Irish Seeker hit the ground with a thud that could be heard throughout the stadium.

"He was faking?! He only wanted Lynch to think he had seen the Snitch!" Hope cried, impressed. She then turned to her still-shocked mom "Those are Seekers, they have to catch the tiny winged ball. The match only ends when it's caught."

"How long can that take?" Hayley asked.

"Longest record, I believe was a month... they had to keep bringing in alternates so the players could rest and eat," Mrs. Patil informed them.

"That kid over there," Hope said, pointing to Harry who was a few seats down from them, "he's the Seeker for our House team. His name's Harry Potter. He's, like, epic! Only lost a match once and that was because of dementors."

Hayley had glanced down at the dark haired boy curiously as a time-out was called so medics could examine the fallen Irish Seeker. He was busily fiddling with his omnioculars.

"The blond a-hole behind me is the Seeker for the Slytherin team," Hope said lowly with a scowl over her shoulder before continuing. "Cedric Seeks for Hufflepuff and Harry's girlfriend Seeks for Ravenclaw. Harry's totally the best, though." She then stopped talking and sat at the edge of her seat. The match had resumed.

Lynch had gotten to his feet after being fed many potions to revive him and climbed back onto his broom and kicked off. The Irish supporters cheered and the referee blew the whistle. Fifteen minutes later, the Irish Chasers had scored ten more goals. They were now leading the game one hundred to ten.

Then it got dirty. Mullet shot toward the goal posts, clutching the Quaffle, when the Bulgarian Keeper flew out to stop her. Hope let out a shout of rage and the Irish supporters echoes her. The leprechauns darted into the air like a swarm of locusts.

"Dick move!" Rebekah yelled, seeing the scarlet clad player elbowed the woman in the face.

The referee gave a whistle blast and Bagman's voice boomed over the roaring crowd. "Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing- excessive use of elbows! And yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"

The leprechauns came back together to form the words "HA, HA, HA!" The veela leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily and started to dance.

All of the men and boys covered their ears. The women and girls didn't bother, and Rebekah let out a disbelieving cackle. "Look at the referee!"

Hassan Mostafa had landed in front of the veela and was flexing his muscles, smoothing down his mustache excitedly. The crowd burst into laughter.

"Now, we can't have that!" Bagman said amused "Somebody slap the referee!"

A mediwizard came running across the field with his hands over his ears, kicked Mostafa hard in the shins then left. The referee came back to himself, highly embarrassed, and started shouting at the veela, who had stopped dancing and were looking furious.

"And, unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attemping to send off the Bularian team masocots! Oh... this could turn nasty..." Bagman told the crowd.

And it did. Much to the amusement of the Irish supporters, the Bulgarian Beaters had landed next to the referee and began arguing, pointing at the leprechauns that had formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE!" Mostafa remained adamant and told the Beaters to get back in the air, and when they refused, he gave two short blasts on his whistle.

"_Two _penalties for Ireland!" Bagman shouted and the Bulgarian crowd howled with anger. "And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms... and Troy takes the Quaffle..."

Then it got even nastier. Hayley had to admit she was enjoying this more than any other sporting event she had ever been to, mouth hanging open as the Bulgarian Beaters swung theirs clubs at Bludgers as well as the other players. A scarlet clad Chaser nearly knocked Moran off her broom.

"FOUL!" Hayley screamed along with the rest of the Irish supporters.

The Irish were granted another penalty. And the leprechauns rose into the air to form, to Rebekah and Hayley's shocked amusement, a giant hand that was flipping off the veela across the field. The veela then launched themselves across the field, hurling handfuls of fire at the leprechauns.

"Oh, shit!" Hayley exclaimed as the veela morphed from beautiful women to some unholy mix of bird and human; their heads were bird-like with vicious beaks, scaly wings bursting from their shoulders.

"God, that's worse than beer-goggles!" Rebekah cried.

Ministry wizards rushed to separate the leprechauns and veela. Above, the match continued. Ireland scored but their cheers from their supporters could hardly be heard over the shrieks of the veela, wand blasts from the Ministry wizards, and the angry yells from the Bulgarian supporters. The Irish Beater swung hard, batting a Bludger toward Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker, and it hit him full in the face. The crowd let out a groan of sympathy but the referee could do nothing as one of the veela hurled a fireball and caught the tail of his broom.

"Oh, come on! Call a time out, he can't play like that!" Ron called out. "C'mon, look at him!"

"Look at Lynch!" Harry yelled and then attention of the box was turned on the Irish Seeker.

Lynch went into a dive. The Irish supporters all rose in a great wave, screaming themselves hoarse to urge their Seeker on. Krum was on his tail, blood flying through the air, but he drew level with Lynch as the pair of them hurtled toward the ground again-

"Oooh!" the crowd groaned in sympathy as Lynch hit the ground for the second time and was stampeded by a horde of pissed off veela.

"Did anyone get it?!" Hayley asked at the edge of her seat.

"Krum's got it!" Lavender exclaimed.

Krum rose into the air, blood dribbling down his face, fist held high with a glint of gold in his hand.

The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170. The crowd didn't seem to realize what had happened, but then slowly the roar from the Irish supporters grew louder and louder and then erupted into screams of delight.

"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted. "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH- BUT IRELAND WINS!- good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"

The Irish supporters in the box leapt to their feet in applause. The leprechauns were zooming over the field, showering their players in gold as the Irish national anthem blared from the many waving flags all over the stadium. The veela had returned to normal and were now pouting.

"Vell, ve fought bravely..." said a gloomy voice and it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.

"You can speak English!" Fudge cried outraged, "And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"

"Vell, it vos very funny," the other man replied with a shrug.

There was a blinding white light that had everyone squinting. The Top Box was magically illuminated so that everyone in the stands could see inside of it. Toward the entrance, two wizards were carrying a vast Golden Cup into the box, which was handed to Fudge, who was still looking disgruntled.

"Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers-Bulgaria!" Bagman shouted.

The Bulgarian team filed into the box, each member shaking hands with their own Minister as well as Fudge. Hope saw that the Seeker, Krum, looked a hot mess. He had two black eyes blooming on his bloody face. He was still holding the Snitch. However, Hope supposed he was good looking... in a weird way... minus the bruises.

Then came the Irish team entered, though Lynch had to be supported by his teammates. The team was given the Cup by the Minister and they did a victory parade on their brooms across the stadium.

When it was finally time to head back to the site, Hayley and Rebekah began gushing.

"That..." Hayley said finally "was _awesome!"_

"I've never seen _anything_ quite like that..." Rebekah said in awe.

It was then time to leave and Hope noticed that Fred made a hasty exit. That was just fine with her. Lavender was also hanging back, wanting to not be anywhere near Ludo Bagman as he left the box.

After a few more seconds of letting others pass her, she and her group left the box. Parvati and Padma were chattering excitedly with their mother while Hayley and Rebekah gushed about what they had seen. They were partially down the stairs when she felt someone walking next to her. It was Harry.

"Hope, what'd you think?" Harry asked as they made their way down the stairs. The others in his group were ahead of him. He hung back a bit to talk to her, hoping the match had cheered her up at least.

"That was epic!" Hope cheered.

"Harry, how nice to see you again," Rebekah said as she fell into step next to her niece.

"Hi, Rebekah."

"Oh, Harry, this is my mom, Hayley. Mom, this is my friend, Harry."

He shook hands with the brunette woman, recalling what Hope had told him about her lineage. If viral lycanthropy caused a person to wear down, Lupin's premature gray hair came to mind, then birth lycanthorpy must've been the opposite. Hope's mother didn't look a day older than Bill Weasley and he was in his early twenties. She gave him a smile.

"Hope told me about you. She said you're the best Seeker in the school right now."

Harry looked at Hope who shrugged. "Well, you are."

Harry flushed at that, trying not to feel too pleased with himself when he saw Malfoy scowling as he, his family and Pansy hurried past them. He'd clearly heard her.

"Err... thanks..."

"Hope also tends to sing praises about how pretty his eyes are..." Rebekah said to Hayley and both Harry and Hope flushed scarlet.

"Oh, my God. Aunt Bex..." Hope said lowly "Can you not?" Rebekah only smiled.

"Hmm, they are nice," Hayley agreed. More blood flushed to Harry's face and Hope face-palmed. She then made quick to escape once they were out of the stadium.

"We need to get to the tent. Bye, Harry!" Hope then tugged her aunt and mom off toward their campsite though he could hear her grousing. "One letter! Like, in just _one_ letter I said that! Jeez!"

Cheeks still burning, though thoroughly pleased, Harry went off to find his tent.

* * *

On the camp grounds, the sounds of partying were everywhere. Singing filled the air along with cheers and anthems from the flags. In their tent, once everyone had emptied their pockets and bras of the gold coins, Mrs. Patil had poured a glass of wine for Hayley and Rebekah as they replayed the finer points of the match.

"I'll have one," Hope said, and Hayley scoffed and poured Hope a glass of grape juice.

"Yeah... No, you won't," she said with a smile.

As they were driving home the next morning, they weren't too concerned with transportation such as certain-hour Portkeys or hungover apparation. They stayed up well into the night, Hayley and Rebekah happily discussing some of the match with Mrs. Patil over many glasses of wine and a few beers. The girls were all happily gossiping; Padma and Parvati were going on and on about how awesome it had been to see Krum in their section. Lavender was telling Hope some of the things she had noticed in the box.

"Ugh, that toerag, Bagman... I saw him giving a handful of gold to Fred and George after the match had ended. I'll bet anything that they were gambling. Shagging my mother wasn't enough, now he's got to gamble with sixth years?"

"Do you know what their mom would do to them if she knew they were gambling?" Hope scoffed. She had heard many stories of how strict their mother was. "She's probably skin them both alive..." She then smirked. "I think I'll let it slip..._loudly_ that I saw them gambling the next time I see their mom at Platform 9 ¾."

"You are evil!" Lavender cried gleefully. Hope took a small bow.

"Ugh... but why'd Mafloy have to sit behind me, and with his pug..." Hope groaned. "Swear to god, those Slytherin tools make my ass itch..."

"Hope, language!" Rebekah snapped from the kitchen table.

"Sorry..." Hope then gestured for them to follow her outside where they sat on the grass in front of the tent, watching the Irish celebrate before continuing. "And, seriously, in what world is it fair that Pugface Parkinson gets a boyfriend before me and keeps him longer?! Ragnarok is upon us..."

"Ugh, right..." Parvati agreed, turning to join their conversation.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic..." Hayley called from inside the tent then came out to join them.

"But, Mom! It's insulting!" Hope whined. She found that talking mess about Pansy distracted her from the gnawing pain of being so close to Fred since the breakup. The euphoria from the match had long since wore off.

"Yeah, I wouldn't worry about that lasting..." Hayley said knowingly, chuckled then took another sip from her glass.

"What do you mean?" Lavender asked eagerly.

"Nothing..." Hayley said with a smirk. "Now, come on inside. Almost time for bed."

They did as told and they all went Hope's room, faces scrunched in suspicion.

"Mom knows something..."

"Right..." Parvati nodded.

"Go to bed, girls!" Rebekah called. "I want to be on the road early tomorrow."

Parvati and Padma left to go to their room while Hope and Lavender stayed to change into their pajamas. They clamored into their beds, still gossiping until the excitement of the day had Hope nodding off to the sound of drunken partying.

"Hope! Lavender! Get up!"

Hope was rudely awoke by Mrs. Patil shaking her and Lavender awake. Hope sat up in the dark, sleepily but was instantly awake when she heard the noise. The party noises had changed and she could hear screaming and the sound of people running.

"What the Hell is going on?" Hayley demanded. She was wearing jeans under her nightshirt. Hope grabbed her wand and reached for her clothes but Mrs. Patil stopped her.

"No time for that. They're getting closer. Just get outside, now!"

Hope did as she was told, Lavender at her heels. Parvati and Padma were already outside. By the light of a few fires that were still burning, she saw people running away into the woods, fleeing from something that was moving across the field toward them. Flashes of light and noises like gunfire reached her ears and she could hear loud jeers and roars of drunken laughter.

"Drunk witches... that's never good..." Rebekah sighed as she watched the scene.

"If only it were just drunk witches doing standard magic..." Mrs. Patil growled and there was a burst of strong green light that illuminated the scene.

There was a crowd of tightly packed wizards, they moved together with their wands pointing upward. They marched across the field slowly and they group saw that they didn't seem to have faces. They were hooded and their faces were masked. High above them, floating in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into awful shapes. Two of the figures were very small.

"Drunk Death Eater scum!" Mrs. Patil snarled.

More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing at the floating bodies. Tents crumpled and fell as the crowd grew. Sometimes tents were blasted out of the way and caught on fire. They passed a burning tent and Hope gasped when she saw that it was a family of people she did not recognize, but it was clear they were Muggles. One little boy was spinning like a top, his head flopping limply. He couldn't have been more than five.

"They're coming this way..." Padma breathed in horror. "We need to get to the woods," she said as she watched people rushing out of the way.

"Hope, take your friends and go to the woods," Rebekah told her. All of the chaos was centered here. The woods would be safest for the girls.

"But-" Hope started to protest.

"GO!"

Hope did as was told and she, Lavender and Parvati ran for the woods.

Hayley's mouth had fallen open in horrified disgust as she watched the scene, reminded horribly of those fucking French Quarter witches who had not only tried to kill her, but tried to kill her daughter, how they hexed Father Kieran just because he had helped stop the Harvest...

"Hayley, we can't do anything," Rebekah said lowly, watching the scene in disgust and knowing what was going through the hybrid's mind. "There are too many witches around. And we can't compel them if they see anything... and they all saw us with Hope the whole weekend. Besides, it looks like the Ministry is going to sort out this mess."

At that moment she saw four redheaded men rush forward with wands pointed, along with a bunch of other Ministry people.

"I'm going to help the Ministry," Mrs. Patil told them, pulling out her wand. "You best wait in the woods! They won't hesitate to attack Squibs either." The dark haired woman then ran into the fray.

That's right. These idiots thought they were the daughters of witches, but without power. Oh, how they would love to prove them wrong.

The lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium had been extinguished. People were blundering in the dark, though Rebekah and Hayley could see well enough, it didn't stop the fact that when you add panicked people and take away basic light, you end up with chaos.

"For the love of god, these fucking idiots!" Rebekah growled when she was shoved and sandwiched by people, much like a Black Friday sale at the mall. And she couldn't vamp out and do something about it. This undercover shit was really cramping her style. It would be so simple to run the girls to the car, then pack everything and everyone up in under a minute and head back home; but there were witches and wizards everywhere! Like cockroaches, honestly.

"We should just head to the car," Hayley grunted, as she was roughly shoved and it took all of her control not to send them all flying into the air.

Hayley moved toward the woods, Rebekah following her. They found themselves near the path that had been lit by lanterns, but it was now totally dark. She shut her eyes, trying to get a lock on her daughter.

"She's in the woods," Hayley said after a while. "She's fine."

There was a flash and a bang, more people were screaming. They turned toward the marching crowd and Hayley bristled when the smallest child was cruelly zipped up and down, his small arms and legs flailing like ribbons. The Ministry workers were trying hard to find a spell that would bring them down, but seemed reluctant as it might make them fall.

"Y'know, as much as I hate the French Quarter witches, they would've done some better shit by now to at least get those people down," Hayley said lowly.

"I actually miss Bonnie Bennett... Never thought that would happen."

* * *

"Oh, damn it... where'd they get to?"

Hope grumbled as she finally managed to shove her way out of the stampede of people. She had emerged from the pushing and shoving people with Lavender but Parvati and Padma were nowhere to be found.

"Oh, do you think they're all right?" Lavender asked worriedly.

"Yeah, probably just lost... They'll probably run into Cedric or someone..."

"Hey, is that Rebekah?" Lavender said suddenly.

Hope saw a flash of blond hair and she hurried off, Lavender at her heels. When she reached the blond woman, she saw it wasn't Rebekah but actually Penelope Clearwater. And she looked shaken but otherwise all right, especially in the arms of Oliver Wood, the former Gryffindor giving her comforting kisses.

"Wow, when did that happen?" Hope muttered and continued on.

They made their way through a thicket of trees and bushes that wasn't populated with people like the rest of the forest. They sat down at the base of a thick tree to rest before resuming. Walking through the forest in slippers and flip-flops was not the best idea in the world.

After a few moments, Hope was about to get up when they heard the sound of a pair of footsteps, followed by a giggle. A thud against the other side of the tree they were sitting under and the unmistakable sounds of fevered kissing. Did Oliver and Penelope decide to take it here?

Hope and Lavender exchanged eye rolls and were about to get up to leave. A pleasured gasp sounded from the girl and they flushed. It was _definitely_ time to leave.

Then there was a low, masculine chuckle followed by a gasp from the girl. Then the girl spoke.

"Should we really do this now? The forest is crawling with people..."

Her voice was breathy, laced with passion but Hope still recognized it.

Pansy Parkinson!

Hope and Lavender exchanged revolted looks. They were listening to Parkinson and Malfoy make out while only separated by a tree! Oh, it was definitely time to go!

Then the male spoke.

"They're all distracted, watching the floating Muggles..."

Now Hope's eyes popped and she had to cover her mouth. That didn't sound like Malfoy's drawling, cocky voice. Once look at Lavender told her she was thinking the same thing.

More fevered kissing. Pansy was gasping. The rusting of clothes and Hope's mouth dropped further behind her hand when a girl's shirt landed on the ground a few feet away from her, telling her that at the very least Pansy was letting someone get to second base.

"Marcus..." Pansy gasped.

Hope and Lavender exchanged thunderstruck looks. Marcus Flint!? Malfoy's former team captain!?

There was more giggling and gasping, more lip smacking, then the sound of voices growing closer from yards away. The kissing stopped abruptly.

"We should go..." Pansy said.

"Back to my tent?" he asked and Pansy made a small gasp that let the girls know he had punctuated that question in a pleasurable way.

"No... Draco's probably wondering where I am..." she said with a disappointed sigh.

"Oh... all right... _Accio shirt."_

Pansy's shirt flew from the spot where it had landed, there was more rustling and then the two passed where Hope and Lavender were sitting. The Sytherins didn't glance their way at all, but Hope could make out the male's profile from where she was sitting. That was indeed Flint!

The two Slytherins then set off back toward the campsite and Hope waited until they were well out of site before bolting to her feet.

"Oh, my God... Oh! My! God!" she could hardly keep still. She ran in a little circle, squealing with scandalized glee and Lavender joined her.

"Flint?! Her boyfriend's Captain!? Wow!"

"Ohh... I'm going to have fun with this when school starts!" Hope squealed, actually jumping up and down. "Just wait until that bitch says something to me!"

They hurriedly made their way back toward the way they came, both still shocked over what they had witnessed.

"Oh, it's like elf-made wine! And we have to save this for a special occasion!" Lavender squealed. "And, Hope, you should be the one to crack it open, especially after all of the dung she did to you last year."

"Oh, Lav, you're too good to me," Hope said happily.

"Hey, I think I recognize those people up there..." Lavender said as they made their way toward the more populated area "And thank Merlin, no one's snogging..."

* * *

**THUD!**

"Ouch!"

"Ron? What happened? Ow! Harry!"

"Sorry! I can't see anything!"

"Oh... this is stupid. Lumos!"

The tip of a wand illuminated and Hermione shone its light across the surrounding area. Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys that were still in school had fled from the campsite, per the instructions of Mr. Weasley, and had ran into the forest. It was dark, they could barely see. They had been running, but Ron had, as the light showed, tripped and fell.

"Tripped on a root," the redheaded boy groused as he picked himself up.

"Well, with feet that size, hard not to..." a drawling voice said from behind them.

Harry, Ron and Hermione whirled around. Draco was standing alone, leaning against a nearby tree, and looked completely relaxed. His arms were folded and she seemed to have been watching the riot from a space in the trees.

"Fuck yourself, Malfoy!" Ron snarled.

"Weasley, language..." the Slytherin said easily. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like _her_ spotted, would you?"

He gestured at Hermione right as a blast like cannon fire came from the campsite, and a flash of green light momentarily lit the trees around them.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked defiantly.

There was the sound of footsteps and Harry whirled again but relaxed when he saw who it was. "Hope, Lavender, you two all right?"

The girls clearly didn't have time to go for their coats when they were forced to leave their tent. Both were clad in sleepwear and slippers, or in Hope's case, flip-flops. They also were panting as if they'd been running.

"We're fine, what about yo-" Hope stopped when she saw Malfoy. And to Harry's surprise, she bit back a laugh. In fact Lavender's lips were quirking as if she wanted to laugh, too, at the sight of the Slytherin.

Malfoy's eyes narrowed at the newcomers. "What're you cows laughing at?"

Hope's brows rose at that. "Oh, I'm the cow? I'm not the one-"

"Hope," Lavender had grabbed her wrist. "Elf-made wine, remember?"

Harry had no clue what was going on, but Hope had took a deep breath and then gave Malfoy a false smile. "I don't think your girlfriend would appreciate you calling me her pet names. Or, your mother for that matter."

"Don't you talk about my mother, you Yank sow!"

"Notice how he didn't defend his girlfriend?" Lavender smirked and the two girls then burst into snide giggles.

Malfoy scowled them smirked, "Mitchell, considering you couldn't keep a hovel-dwelling Weasel interested, you have no room speaking on anyone's relationships."

The smirk was wiped from her face and Hope suddenly looked ready to kill. Harry sprung forward to hold her back just in case she charged the Slytherin.

"I noticed you two weren't snogging in the Top Box, Mitchell. You stopped buying him nice things?"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Ron took a step forward but Hermione held him back.

"Or did you leave because you were sick of being the man in the relationship? I, at least, was able to provide Pansy with a ticket here."

"Hope, don't even listen to him. Besides, what he just said makes it all even better..." Lavender said as she assisted Harry in holding her back. "Him and his ugly cow of a girlfriend can just sod off."

"Speaking of ugly cows, as I said before, you really should be moving unless you want the long-molared Mudblood spotted. In that case, stay right here."

"Oh, you-!" Lavender had let go of Hope and stormed toward Malfoy and Ron was struggling to get free from Hermione.

"Watch your mouth!" Ron snarled.

"Lavender, Ron, never mind," Hermione said.

Another loud bang sound from the other side of the trees and was louder than anything they had heard. Several people screamed.

"Scare easily, don't they?" Malfoy said with a chuckle. "I'm guessing your daddy told you all to hide while he plays 'Save the Muggle?'"

"And I bet your parents are the ones in the masks, aren't they?" Harry snarled as he held Hope back "you lousy sack of-"

"Potter, manners..." Malfoy chided. "And if they were, do you think I would tell you?"

"Oh, come on..." Hermione said with a disgusted look toward Malfoy. "Let's go find the others."

"Keep that bushy head down, Granger," Malfoy sneered.

With some luck Harry and Hermione managed to pull Hope, Ron and Lavender up the path.

"I'll bet anything his dad is one of that masked lot!" Ron declared hotly.

"Obviously..." Hermione said "Hopefully, the Ministry will catch him!"

"You haven't seen Parvati and Padma, have you?" Lavender asked, calmer now.

"No, have you seen Ginny, George and Fred?" Ron asked.

Hope flinched at the last name. "Nope..." she then turned to Lavender "Let's look over here."

"Hope, don't be daft, it's safer if we're with more people..."

Hope looked like she would rather eat fried ants than risk running into Fred. Lavender rolled her eyes and tugged her along. "Do you mind if we tag along with you?" she asked Harry.

"No, come on..."

Fred, George, Ginny, Parvati and Padma were nowhere to be seen, even though the path was packed with other people who all looked nervously over their shoulders towards the commotion back at the campsite. There was a group of teenagers in pajamas, arguing further along. They spotted the Gryffindors and a girl with thick, curly hair turned and said "Où est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue-"

"Er..." Ron said blankly.

"_Je suis désolé , je ne parle pas francais," _Hope said easily.

"Oh..." the girl said then turned back to her friends. As they left they heard her say "Ogwarts."

"Beauxbatons," Hermione muttered.

Harry saw Hope casting uneasy glances at Ron who was a few paces ahead of them. It must've been awkward considering his brother dumped her just a day ago.

"So," he said to Hermione in an effort to diminish the awkwardness "What was that you said?"

"Oh, those French kids must go to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. I read about it in _An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe."_

"Where could Parvati and Padma have gotten to?" Lavender pulled out her wand and lit it, and Hope did the same. Harry dug in his pockets for his own wand- but it wasn't there. The only thing there were his omnioculars.

"What the- I don't believe it! I've lost my wand!"

"What?!"

Ron and the girls raised their wands high enough to spread narrow beams of light farther on the ground; Harry looked all around him but his wand was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe it's in your tent," Hope offered.

"Did it fall when you were running?" Lavender asked.

"Probably..." Harry said uneasily. Being without his wand made him feel especially vulnerable.

A rustling noise nearby made the teens all jump. Winky the house-elf was fighting her way out of a clump of bushes nearby. She was moving strangely, and with difficulty, as if someone invisible were trying to hold her back.

"There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked as she leaned forward and labored to keep running "People high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"

She then disappeared through the trees, panting and squeaking as she fought the force that was restraining her.

"Ehhh..." Hope said in confusion, pointing toward where the elf had disappeared. "What was that?"

"House-elf," Harry explained. "We saw her in the Top Box. She was saving a seat for a Ministry worker, but he never turned up."

"Do they all run like that?" Hope asked.

"No... she probably didn't ask for permission to hide," he replied. He remembered how whenever Dobby tried to do something the Malfoys wouldn't like, he was forced to punish himself.

"House-elves just have a very raw deal!" Hermione said indignantly. "It's slavery! Mr. Crouch makes her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone do something about it!?"

"Well, they're happy being bossed around, aren't they?" Ron said and the girl let out a disgusted noise.

"It's people like you, Ron, who prop up rotten systems, just because they're too lazy to-" Hermione started but another bang echoed from the edge of the wood.

"We should go..." Lavender said and glanced at Hermione nervously, as if she were worried that Malfoy had been right and the bushy-haired girl was in more danger than they were.

They found no hide or hair of their friends, but they saw others. They passed a group of goblins who were laughing over a sack of gold that they had probably won betting on the match. They didn't seem bothered by the chaos. Farther along, they stepped into a patch of silver light. They looked through the trees and saw three tall and beautiful veela standing in a clearing, surrounded by a bunch of young wizards who were talking very loudly.

"I pull down a hundred sacks of Galleons a year! I'm a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal

Dangerous Creatures!"

"No, you're not! But, I'm a vampire hunter! I've killed over ninety-"

"Bull and shit," Hope said unimpressed while Harry laughed.

"I'm about to become the youngest ever Minister of Magic!" said a pimply wizard Harry recognized as Stan Shunpike, the conductor of the Knight Bus.

Harry turned to tell the others this but Ron had gone slack, then next moment he was yelling "Did I tell you I invented a broomstick that'll reach Jupiter!?"

"For the love of-" Hermione scoffed and she and Harry marched him away from the veela.

Lavender and Hope were giggling as they walked. "I wonder what male veela would be like..." Lavender asked and she, Hope and Hermione all broke into sly grins as they imagined.

"Seriously?" Harry asked. "The last thing we need is you lot going stupid-"

"Like you did?" Hope countered with a smirk.

"Hey!"

"Because you were looking so idiotic, it should've been a crime."

"I was not!"

"You were about to jump from the Box, Harry," Hermione said with no sympathy.

"So was Malfoy... shame his mom and Parkinson stopped him," Hope said easily.

Then she and Lavender exchanged a look and broke into more giggles. Harry glanced at the girls, recalling the fight with Malfoy. "D'you two know something?"

"Huh?" both girls asked in unconvincing innocence. They then broke into more giggles.

"Well, see-" Hope started but Lavender elbowed her.

"Hope, elf-made wine, remember!"

"Right... okay..." Now they were giggling uncontrollably.

Harry decided it was a strange girl thing and decided to drop it. They soon reached the very center of the forest where things were much quieter.

"Maybe we should wait here," he said. "We'll hear anyone coming a mile off."

At that moment, the words hardly out of his mouth, Ludo Bagman emerged from behind a tree right ahead of them. He appeared pale and strained.

"Who's that?" he said frantically, then blinked down at them, trying to make out their faces. "What are you doing in here, all alone?" he asked.

They all looked at each other surprised, though Lavender was scowling.

"Well, there's a riot going on..." Ron said.

"What?" the man asked in surprise.

"Some people got hold of a family of Muggles..."

"Damn them!" he said, looking distracted, then his disapparted without another word.

"Not exactly on top of things, is he?" Hermione said with a small frown.

"O, he's been on top of a lot," Lavender muttered bitterly.

"He was a great Beater, though," Ron said as they made their way to a small clearing.

Lavender only scoffed while Hope patted her shoulder comfortingly. Harry had the feeling he was missing a lot.

The group sat in a spot of dry grass by some trees. Ron was playing with his small model of Viktor Krum, watching it walk along the grass. Lavender was still scowling, staring at her slippered feet. Harry was listening for noise from the campsite. Everything was quieter now. Maybe the riot was over.

"Do you think Parvati and Padma are all right?" Lavender asked Hope quietly.

"They probably found Cedric... I'm sure they're fine. Or Mom and Aunt Bex did... though, I'm sure they're going to kill me for getting lost," the girl said with a sigh. "That's if they didn't get in the middle of the riot..."

"Isn't your aunt a Squib?" Harry asked, "Isn't she in danger?" He knew her mother was a werewolf but it wasn't known. But, it wasn't even the full moon yet.

"They're fine..." if there was anyone she wasn't worried about, it was her mom and Aunt Bex. "They were with Parvati's mom..."

They were quiet for a little while before Harry said suddenly "I didn't know you spoke French,"

"Just enough to say I don't speak it, and to order my favorite foods..." Hope replied with a shrug. She then cast an uneasy glance toward the direction of the campsite. "I'm mainly worried about that family..."

"So am I," Hermione said nervously. "I hope they can get them down..."

"They will," Ron said reassuringly.

"How much were those masked people drinking to do something like that with the whole Ministry of Magic here, though?" Lavender asked. "Or are they ju-"

The sound of a footstep in the air had her halting. The others whirled around too. Uneven footsteps sounded from behind the dark trees. They then came to a sudden halt.

"Hello?" Harry called.

No one answered. Harry got to his feet and peered around the tree. It was dark so he couldn't see very fat, but he could sense someone standing just beyond his visual range.

"Who's there?" he called.

Without warning the silence was broken by a voice unlike any they had head this night. It spoke loudly, resolutely.

"MORSMORDRE!"

* * *

Hayley, with difficulty, turned away from the scene and left toward Hope's direction. It was lighter, now. They were forced to walk at human speed so they wouldn't be spotted. People all around them had been saying "Lumos" or "Lumos Duo" or "Lumos Maxima" or conjuring small fires and even lanterns.

"We need to hurry up and get to her..." Hayley said as she passed a woman comforting a crying baby.

"I'm sure she's fine. She's with her friends and she knows many people here."

"I'm sure she's safe, too" Hayley replied. "It's just I don't need her running into that little asshole who dumped her and killing him... Or, worse... Gets back with him."

Rebekah pursed her lips at the thought. Seriously, what was Hope thinking? Eh, considering the slew of bad choices she made when it came to men, she really had no room to talk.

"Those motherfu-" Hayley said suddenly, glaring. "They're moving this way..."

Rebekah turned toward the mayhem and saw that, indeed, the crowd levitating the people had moved closer. There were Ministry people trying to get them down, other morons laughing and jeering, and the hooded freaks in the center still contorting the family into horrid shapes. The one in the center flicked his wand and the woman's voluminous drawers came clean off, much to the amusement and horror of the crowd.

Hayley fumed, feeling her fangs ready to descend and Rebekah had to grab her to keep her from doing anything.

"Hayley, trust me, I get it-"

"Why are they even doing this?" Hayley asked as the forest grew steadily awash in a bright green light.

"Because they're regular people. Hope told me that some people here think non-magical humans are less than garbage. They're also not fond of werewolves so you need to calm down."

It seemed no point to tell Hayley to calm down because now everyone was screaming. Innocent bystanders and torturers alike. People were pointing at the sky, terrified, then would either disappear on the spot or scream about 'Portkeys.' The women looked upward, eyes falling on a huge skull that looked like it was formed from emerald stars. The skull's mouth was open and a snake sprung forth, like a tongue. Below them, it was a wave of panic.

"THE DARK MARK!"

* * *

Harry stared as the skull, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched across the black sky. The wood then broke into a torrent of screams. Harry had no clue why, but the only possible cause the sudden appearance of the skull. It now cast an eerie green light over the entire wood and he scanned the area for the person who had conjured the skull, but he saw no one.

"Who's there?" he called again.

"We've got to move!" Hermione cried suddenly and took him by his jacket, dragging him back.

She wasn't the only one. Lavender had grabbed Hope by the arm and was dragging her backward. Both Lavender and Hermione looked terrified.

"What the Hell?" Hope gasped.

"It's the Dark Mark!" Lavender yelled "You-Know-Who's sign! My grandpa told me all about it! We've got to move!"

"_Voldemort's-?"_ Harry started.

"MOVE!" Hermione shrieked.

Ron grabbed his miniature Krum figure and they started across the clearing. However, before they could make more than ten steps, there was a series of popping noises that announced the arrival of twenty wizards surrounding them.

Harry whirled around. Each of theses wizards had this wand out and every one of them was pointed at himself and the others.

"DUCK!"

He grabbed Ron and Hermione and yanked them all to the ground. Two thuds next to him told him Hope and Lavender had done the same.

"STUPEFY!" several voices roared.

A series of red flashes flew over there eyes and Harry felt the hair on his head ripple. He heard one of the girls whimper and he lifted his head a fraction of an inch, fiery red jets of light flew cover them from the wizards' wands, crossing one another, bouncing from trees, rebounding into the darkness-

"STOP!" yelled a voice he recognized. "That's my son!"

The red lights stopped. Harry raised his head a bit higher. The one in front of him had stopped firing and lowered his wand. He rolled over onto his back and saw Mr. Weasley rushing toward them, face pale with horror.

"Ron... Harry... Hermione..." his voice was shaky "Are you all right? You two, here..."

"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold voice.

Mr. Crouch, whom Harry had met earlier before the match, was closing in on them along with the other Ministry officials. His face was taut with rage. Harry got to his feet to face them and the others followed suit.

"Which of you did it?" Crouch snapped, eyes darting between them all. "Which of you conjured the Mark?"

"We didn't do that!" Harry exclaimed, gesturing to the skull.

"We didn't do anything!" Hope cried and Crouch turned to her, pointing his wand at her.

"Do not lie, missy!" he shouted. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Barty, these are children, they couldn't have-" a Ministry witch in a wool dressing gown started but the man would hear none of it.

"Where did the Mark come from?!" Crouch demanded but a new voice made itself known.

"If you want to keep that shitty Hitler mustache, you'll stop pointing that fucking wand at my daughter!"

Everyone whirled around. Hayley had come storming through the trees and placed herself directly between Crouch and Hope, her expression pure fury. They surrounding wizards looked astonished that anyone would speak to the man that way. Crouch now looked madder than ever.

"Get out of the way, woman! They were found at the scene!" The wand was now pointed at Hayley. "Or was it you?!"

"I don't even know what that is!" Hayley snapped, not seeming to care that a wand was pointed at her face.

"Don't threaten my mom!" Hope snarled and Harry threw out an arm to stop her from charging.

"Hayley's a Squib, leave her alone!" Lavender cried angrily.

"Barty, a Squib couldn't hope to cast the Mark," said a man Harry knew as Amos Diggory, Cedric's father.

"It came from over there!" Hermione said frantically, pointing to the place where they had heard the voice. "Someone was behind the trees there. They shouted words... an incantation-"

"Oh, stood over there, did they?" Crouch said, turning his popping eyes to Hermione, "Said and incantation, did they? You seem well informed about how the Mark is summoned, missy-"

"That's how all spells are cast!" Hope said indignantly.

But, none of the other Ministry wizards apart from Crouch seemed to think remotely likely that the teens had conjured the skull. At Hermione's words they had all raised their wands again and were pointing them in the direction she had indicated, squinting through the dark trees.

"We're too late," said the witch in the wool dressing gown. "They would have disapparated."

"I don't think so..." said Mr. Diggory. "Our Stunners went right through the trees." He then strode into the trees, shoulders squared and wand pointed.

"Amos, be careful!" a few wizards called.

A few seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shout. "Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It'... blimey..."

"You've got someone?" Crouch shouted, sounding disbelieving. "Who?"

There was the snap of twigs, the rustling of leaves and Mr. Diggory came from the trees. He was carrying a very small, limp form in his arms. Harry recognized the tea towel at once. It was Winky the house-elf.

Mr. Crouch did not move or speak as Mr. Diggory lay the elf on the ground at his feet. The other Ministry members were all staring at Crouch. Hayley looked back and forth between the stunned man and the small creature before speaking.

"Now, if we're done here and we know my kid and her friends didn't do it, I'm taking them back to the tent." Hayley then took Hope and Lavender, led them by the arms toward the trees, angry glare still on Crouch. The Ministry wizards seemed to think it fine for a Squib to lead away two young witches and Crouch was still staring at Winky in shock. Without another word Hayley, Hope and Lavender left the scene.

* * *

"I can't believe they thought the girls had cast the Mark!"

After Hayley had returned with the girls they found Mrs. Patil in a right state, ordering her girls to hurry and pack. It turned out that Hayley and Rebekah had run into Parvati and Padma when the panic started over the Dark Mark. Hayley had advised Rebekah to take the girls back to their mother while she looked for Hope. And upon returning from the scene in the clearing, the other four were found in the tend, hurriedly packing. Now, they were in the car and on the road, Rebekah behind the wheel, Mrs. Patil ranting after Hayley filled everyone in on what happened.

"If it was the elf, then that's not your fault! You're just kids! Only people in league with You-Know-Who knew that spell, and that was years ago!" the woman continued.

"Who?" Hayley asked.

"Voldemort," Hope said and the Patils and Lavender all flinched at the name.

"Who's that?" Hayley asked, not getting why everyone freaked out at the name, or caring. She was still fuming about that mustached asshole pointing a wand at her child.

"The worst dark wizard of all time..." Mrs. Patil said. "That Mark in the sky was what he and his followers would cast over the homes of people they murdered. But, he can't be back. He died year ago. That was just more drunk Death Eaters, deciding to have some fun by casting it in the air to scare everyone, not just torture Muggles."

"Sort of like brats pulling the fire alarm," Hope offered quietly to her mom and aunt.

"So, if he's dead, then why freak out if the skull thing shows up? Why did that mustachy asshole threaten a bunch of kids!?" Hayley demanded.

"Crouch has always been a fanatic when it came to the opposing the Dark Arts. He'd have no problem pointing a wand at a bunch of children," Mrs. Patil said with a sniff. "Plus, not everyone thinks _he's_ dead."

"Like Elvis," Hope offered.

No one spoke for a while, the only sound the striking of thumbs on a touchscreen.

"Hope, who're you texting?" Rebekah asked, glancing in the mirror. Hope had been furiously texting the moment they were free from magical interference.

"Hermione. I'm telling her to tell me what happened when we left."

They soon dropped the Patils and Lavender off at the Leaky Cauldron which was full of people who had fled the campsite. Hayley, Rebekah and Hope then headed home where Nik was perched content in a tree. Hope had let the owl fly free while she was away, knowing he could take care of himself. The minute she entered the house, she flopped on the couch and fell promptly to sleep.

* * *

"Okay, so where are you guys? Still at the site?"

It was the next morning and Harry was sitting with Hermione in the same area where she had Skyped him before heading to the Burrow days ago. Hermione had her mobile phone out and was speaking with Hope via Skype.

"No, we're at the Burrow, Ron's house," Hermione informed her. "We came back here early this morning by Portkey. Everyone else is in the house, getting more sleep so I decided I would I answer your messages when I finally got them this morning."

"So, what happened after I left?" Hope asked. "After mom went off on that one guy-"

"I'm glad your mother told off that horrible man!" Hermione said indignantly.

Hope's brows raised and she glanced at Harry. "Eh?"

"Well..." Harry began. "What had happened was-"

FBFBFB

_Harry watched as the tall brunette lead the two girls away. Hope glanced back at them uneasily before disappearing through the trees. No one else noticed them cared much that they were leaving. Mr. Crouch was still staring down at the unconscious elf._

"_This- cannot- be- No-"_

_He moved around Mr. Diggory and strode off toward the place where he had found Winky._

"_No point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him. "No else was back there."_

_Mr. Crouch did not seem prepared to take his word for it. They could hear him moving around and the rustling of leaves as he pushed the bushes aside, searching. _

"_Bit embarrassing..." Mr. Diggory said quietly. "Barty Crouch's house-elf..."_

"_Amos, you seriously don't think it was the elf," Mr. Weasley said disbelievingly. "The Dark Mark is a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."_

"_Yeah," Mr. Diggory said "and she had one."_

"_What?"_

_Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed it to Mr. Weasley. "She had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand."_

_Just then there was another _pop, _and Ludo Bagman apparaed right next to Mr. Weasley. He looked breathless, disoriented. He goggled as he looked up at the emerald skull in the sky._

"_The Dark Mark!" he nearly stepped on Winky as he looked at his colleagues. "Who did it? Did you catch them? What's going on? Barty! What happened?"_

Does he ever know what's going on?_ Harry wondered as he watched the scene. Mr. Crouch had returned with no one. His face was ghostly white, and his hands and mustache were twitching. _

"_Where have you been, Barty?" Bagman asked. "You weren't at the match. Your elf was saving you a seat too- Galloping gargoyles!" the man finally noticed Winky on the ground. "What happened to her?"_

"_I have been busy, Ludo...And my elf has been stunned," Crouch replied, still speaking jerkily. _

"_What? Why-" Comprehension then dawned on Bagman. "No! Winky? Conjure the Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"_

"_And she had one," said Mr. Diggory. "I found her holding one, Ludo. And if it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself."He then pointed his own wand at the elf "_Rennervate!"

_Winky stirred and her great brown eyes opened. She blinked in dazed confusion and sat up. Finally she caught sight of Mr. Diggory's feet and slowly, shakily, raised her eyes to stare up into his face. She then looked up into the sky, saw the floating skull still etched in the sky. She gave a gasp, looked around wildly and burst into terrified sobs. _

"_Elf!" Mr. Diggory sternly. "I am a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures! As you see elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago. And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"_

"_I... I is not doing it, sir!" Winky gasped, still sobbing. "I is not knowing how, sir!"_

"_You were found with a wand in your hand!" Mr. Diggory snapped at her, brandishing it in front of her. Harry recognized the wand in the harsh green light from the Mark._

"_Hay- that's mine!" Harry exclaimed._

_Everyone in the clearing looked at him._

"_Excuse me?" Mr. Diggory said incredulously._

"_That's my wand! I dropped it!"_

"_You dropped it?" Mr. Diggory said in disbelief. "Is that a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"_

"_Amos, do you really think _Harry Potter_ is going to conjure the Dark Mark?" Mr. Weasley asked angrily._

"_Er... of course not," Mr. Diggory muttered, "Sorry... got carried away..."_

"_I didn't even drop it there," Harry explained, pointing at the spot beneath the trees under the skull. "I dropped it right after we got into the wood."_

"_So," Mr. Diggory had turned back to Winky, eyes hard. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"_

"_I is not doing magic with it, sir!" Winky squealed, tears streaming down her face. "I is not knowing how! I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"_

"_It wasn't her!" Hermione cried, looking very nervous for speaking up in front of so many Ministry wizards. "Winky has a squeaky little voice and the voice we heard was much deeper!" She looked at Ron and Harry for support. "It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"_

"_No, it didn't sound a thing like an elf," Harry said, shaking his head. _

"_We'll soon see," Mr. Diggory said, looking unimpressed. "There's a simple way of discovring the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?"_

_Winky trembled and shook her head as Mr. Diggory raised his own wand again and placed it tip to tip with Harry's._

"Prior Incantato!"

_Hermione gasped and Harry stared as a gigantic serpent-tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands me, but it was only a shadow of the green skull high above them; it looked as though it were made of thick gray smoke, a ghost of a spell. _

"_Deletrius!" Mr. Diggory yelled, and the smoky skull vanished. He then turned back to Winky, eyes fierce with savage triumph "So..."_

"_I is not doing it!" Winky sobbed. "I is not knowing how! I isn't using wands, I is not knowing how!"_

"_You've been caught red handed, elf!" Mr Diggory roared. "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!"_

"_Amos, think about it!" Mr. Weasley said loudly "Only a handful of wizards know that spell! Where would she have learned it?"_

"_Perhaps Aos is suggesting," Mr. Crouch said, his voice full of frost "that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?"_

_The silence was palpable. Mr. Diggory looked horrified. "Mr. Crouch... not at all..."_

"_You have come quite close to accusing the two people least likely of casting the Mark! Harry Potter and myself! I suppose you know the boy's story, Amos?"_

"_Of course... everyone knows-"_

"_And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career, that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch was shouting, eyes bulging. _

"_I... Mr. Crouch, I never suggested you had anything to do with it!" Mr. Diggory muttered. _

"_If you accuse my elf, then you accuse me, Diggory! Where else would she have learned it!?"_

"_Well... she... she might've picked it up anywhere..."_

"_Exactly," Mr. Weasley said "She could have gotten it anywhere." He then turned to Winky and spoke kindly to her. "Winky,where exactly did you find Harry's wand?"_

_Winky was now twisting the hem of her tea towel so violently that it was fraying beneath her fingers._

"_I is finding it... there in the trees, sir..." she whispered. _

"_There, you see, Amos. Whoever conjured the Mark could have disapparated right after they'd done it, leaving Harry's wand behind. A clever thing, not using their own wand which could have betrayed them. Winky here was just unfortunate to come across the wand moments later."_

"_But then, she'd have been only a few feet away from the real culprit! Elf, did you see anyone?" Mr. Diggory demanded. _

_Winky trembled worse than ever. Her eyes flickered from Diggory, to Bagman, then to Crouch. Then she said "I is seeing no one, sir... no one..."_

"_Amos, I am fully aware that, in ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky in for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."_

_Mr. Diggory looked like he would have loved to protest, but he didn't refuse him. Mr. Crouch must have been an important member of the Ministry._

"_You may rest assured that she will be punished," Mr. Crouch said coldly._

"_M-master..." Winky stammered, giant brown eyes pooling with tears "M-m-master, please..."_

_Mr. Crouch stared back, his gaze pitiless. "Wink has behaved tonight in a manner that I would not believe possible. I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me. _This means clothes."

"_NO!" Winky shrieked, falling to her hands and knees at Mr. Crouch's feet. "No, master! Not clothes!"_

_The only way to free a house-elf was to present it with proper clothing. Poor Winky was clutching her tea towel as she sobbed at Mr. Crouch's feet. _

"_But, she was scared!" Hermione said angrily, glaring at Mr. Crouch "She's scared of heights, and those people in the masks were blasting the tents and levitating people! You can't blame her for wanting to get out of the way!"_

_Mr. Crouch took a step back from Winky, eying her as if she were something revolting contaminating his shoes. "I have no need for a house-elf who disobeys me," he said coldly to Hermione "I have no use for a servant that forgets what is due to her master, and her master's reputation."_

_There was an awful silence, filled only by Winky's sobs. Mr. Weasley finally spoke up._

"_Well, I'll take my lot back to the tent, if you don't mind...Amos, that wand's told us all it can.. if Harry could have it back, please..."_

_Mr. Diggory handed Harry back the wand. Mr. Weasley then led the others back toward the campsite, though Hermione didn't budge. Her eyes were still on the sobbing elf._

"_Hermione!" Mr. Weasley said urgently. She finally turned and followed the rest out of the clearing. _

FBFBFF

"And when we got back there was this big crowd of people, asking Mr. Weasley if You-Know-Who was back. Then we got back to our tents and told everyone else what happened," Hermione was saying furiously to a stunned Hope "And Percy-" she paused to take an infuriated breath "he kept saying that Mr. Crouch was right to sack Winky because of how important of a wizard he is in the Ministry and it would have made him look bad! He's got a lot of nerve, Mr. Crouch doesn't even remember Percy's name! Calls him Weatherby all of the time actually."

"See, that's why Penelope Clearwater was getting comfort kisses from Oliver Wood when all the stuff went down," Hope said unimpressed. She'd always thought Percy was an asshole.

Harry's brows rose at that and Hermione let out a satisfied 'hmph' "Well, good for her for finding someone better!"

"Damn, Hermione... You mad?" Hope asked in impressed amusement.

"Oh, and the things he was saying about your mum when we told him about what she said to Mr. Crouch!" Hermione said indignantly and Harry jerked.

"Hermione-" he said urgently. It probably wasn't the best idea to get Hope upset at more than one Weasley.

"He had the nerve to say that Fred was right for leaving you if you had a mother who would speak in such a way to an important Ministry member, even he was pointing a wand at her kid!"

Hope's mouth fell open and her blue eyes widened to their full limits. Harry braced himself for the coming storm.

"Oh... OOOHHHHH! That little horned-rimmed glasses wearing, ass-kissing _bitch!" _Hope shrieked. "Ohh... He'd better be glad that he's not at Hogwarts anymore! Little cunt!"

"Hope, it's too early for screaming and cussing!" Hayley's voice snapped from offscreen then she appeared behind the angry girl.

"Mom! Did you hear what they said that little douche said about me and you!?"

"Yes, I did and considering his former girlfriend is making out with that cute guy who visited our campsite, he has no room to talk about relationships, especially if he's probably banging that Hitler 2.0 who can't even remember his name."

Hermione let out a scandalized gasp while Harry broke into uncontrollable cackles. So, that's where Hope got it from...

Hayley then peered over her daughter's shoulder, into the camera. "Hey, kids..."

"Hi..." they said awkwardly.

She then turned to Hope. "Breakfast is almost ready, so wrap it up." She then left and there was the sound of a door closing.

"What else happened?" Hope asked.

"Well, it's all over the _Daily Prophet_," Hermione said "the Mark showing up. Some woman reporter made everything sound worse than it was. I'll send you the copy if you want... Mr. Weasley and Percy had to go into work... and Percy probably went to go lick Mr. Crouch's boots some more..." Hermione added nastily.

Hope snickered at that then turned to Harry. "Oh, by the way, did you see Cho before all the drama happened?"

Harry now sighed, knowing he was going to get teased. "Yes, but only for a few minutes before the match. I just met her parents, and that was it..."

"Mhm..." Hermione and Hope both said, disbelievingly.

"Oh, shut up and go watch some more dirty American movies!" Harry snapped at Hermione who flushed and spluttered.

"Hope! Breakfast!" Hayley's voice called from the background.

"I gotta go, guys," she said tiredly.

"We should probably head back, as well. They might be looking for us," Hermione said. "I'll try to call you tomorrow."

"Don't bother, we'll see each other next week on the train," Hope said easily though it was clear she was still pissed. "Laters." The call promptly ended.

As Harry made his way back to the Burrow, he thought back to last night. For a moment he was worried that Hayley might have sprung and attacked Crouch. She certainly looked ready to do so at that time. And then, with everything else that had happened... His scar hurting Saturday and then Voldemort's Mark appearing two days later...

Harry glanced at the sky, seeing no feather of Hedwig. He more anxious from a reply from Sirius more than ever.

After they arrived at the Burrow, Harry had told Ron and Hermione what had happened Saturday. He told them about the dream where Voldemort was with Wormtail, and there was a doll... he didn't remember all of it, but he told them that they had been plotting to kill someone... He didn't tell them that it was _him_ they were plotting to kill. He didn't want to frighten them anymore than they had already been.

Hermione and Ron's reactions were exactly as he'd imagined. Hermione had gasped ad started making suggestions at once, mentioning a number of books, and everyone from Dumbledore to Madam Pomfrey. Ron had looked dumbstruck, and stammered in fright.

"But... he wasn't there, was he? You-Know-Who? I mean, last time your scar was hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasn't he? No, it was only a dream..."

But, was it a dream? Harry now wondered what Hope would make of it. He decided he'd ask her the next time he spoke with her.

"There you are!" Mrs. Weasley said when they returned. "Where on earth have you two been? We were looking all over for you! Come on in, breakfast is ready."

* * *

September first rolled around far too quickly as far as Hope was concerned. Other than the madness at the World Cup, and having to calm down her irate mother and aunt, she had been having the time of her life with her aunt there. Her mom still went into rages about the 'Hitler 2.0' who had threatened her with a wand, but Hope managed to calm her down, stating that it was like when kids were discovered at the scene of any crime in Muggle cities, and that the Dark Mark had been more of a prank that no one thought was funny. Granted, Hermione had sent her a copy of the _Prophet_ with what the story, but Hope conveniently used it to line the bottom of Nik's cage, not wanting her mom and aunt to freak out even more. It had been two weeks worth of movies, shopping and one concert. Also, on a random mall crawl, Hayley had pointed out the perfect dress for Hope to wear to whatever event they were going to have at school. Now, they stood on Platform 9 ¾.

"Oohh, I'm going to miss you so much..." Hayley said tearfully as she pulled Hope into a hug.

"Mom... don't cry, it's awkward..." Hope said as she hugged her back.

"I'll see you at Christmas," Rebekah said as she pulled Hope into a hug. "And, if Professor McGonagall doesn't overload you with homework, Easter as well."

"Yeah, fat chance on that one..." Hope scoffed then scowled when she saw a family of redheads come through the portal, her scowl deepening at one redhead in particular. Hayley saw the look and sighed.

"Hope, remember what I said..."

"Don't worry... I won't hurt him..." she said as she loaded her things on the train. _Not physically..._

"Hope! Hi!" Parvati , Lavender and Padma had come up to them, though to Hope's surprise, Padma looked quite sulky.

"Padma, what's the matter?" Rebekah asked. She quite liked all of Hope's friends.

Parvati only shook her head, basically saying not to ask. Padma's eyes filled with tears.

"I'd better get on the train..." the Ravenclaw said in a high voice. "Nice to see you again, Hayley and Rebekah..." She then grabbed her cart and loaded up.

"Okay... Well, I'm going to let you go comfort her... whatever's wrong with her, though I'm sure I can guess what..." Hayley said awkwardly. She just hoped Cedric didn't do it by owl...

She gave Hope another hug then gave one to Parvati and Lavender as well.

"Hope, ready for that elf-made wine..." Lavender said slyly, gesturing toward Pansy Parkinson who was boarding the train. Hope gave an evil giggle.

"Ahh... you found out about that," Hayley said, knowing what they were talking about.

"What are you going on about?" Parvati demanded. "Lavender's been giggling about it all week, but she won't tell me what it is. She just says it's like elf-made wine and Hope has the privlage of opening it..."

"Trust me, it's good..." Hope giggled. Parvati just rolled her eyes and went to load her things on the train, Lavender following. Hope waited until they were on the train before turning to her mom.

"You knew about it, didn't you?" Hope asked in a happy whisper. "That's why you said you wouldn't worry about Malfoy and Parkinson being together long. When you were with Parvati and you said you saw her with someone, it wasn't Malfoy was it?"

"Nope..." Hayley said with a smile.

"And you knew that when you saw Malfoy in the Top Box..."

"Yep..."

"You saw that?!"

"When we were in the Box, I didn't just see that... I _smelled_ that..."

"EWWW!" Hope burst into revolted giggles. "Oh god... ewww..."

The train gave a sharp whistle and she hurried to get on the train, still giggling. Her mom and aunt both stood, waving as the train's pistons hissed. It then rounded the corner and they were off to Hogwarts for another year.

**Okay, it's 12/05/15 and 7:31 PM and I'm so not a fan of this chapter. I feel like I could have done better with the Hayley and Rebekah during the riot scenes, had them do more, but that would've caused a rift in where I want this story to go. Also, why didn't they freak out more during the riot? All the danger was there on the site, while Hope was safe with a group of her friends... and they knew that the Death Eaters were just attacking Muggles, and would go for Squibs. They're not too familiar about the prejudice against Muggle-borns, at least not yet. Ah well, it is what it is. Now the real fun starts! Till next time, loves! **


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or The Originals. They both belong to their respective copyright holders, J.K Rowling and The CW. I am in no way profiting from this work of fanfiction. **

**It's 12/05/15 7:33 PM. I'm going to see if I can keep going. I was going to take a break but drama is happening over here and writing is a good escape to keep me from pulling a Klaus-like rage fit. **

**On with the show!**

* * *

"Hey, Pads..." Hope said gently once the train had turned and she had sat down. "What's the matter?"

Padma was sitting next to her sister, her eyes puffy from crying. Parvati was rubbing her shoulder and Lavender was gently rubbing her arm.

"Cedric broke up w-with me!" Padma wailed.

Hope's eyes popped and she quickly checked to make certain that the door was shut as were the windows. Last thing she needed was some Slytherin coming in here and starting some shit. Satisfied she couldn't be heard, she leaned forward in her seat. "Why? When? How?"

Padma just cried harder and Parvati winced and lowered her voice. "It was last night... Cedric had took the Floo to the house to speak with her, and Padma had... well... she had told him that she wanted to..." the girl then whispered "that she wanted... to give her virginity to him..."

Hope let out a startled squeak and covered her mouth, eyes wide. "What? He didn't dump you after doing it, did he?" she demanded. Because she was so murdering the Hufflepuff if he did.

"No..." Parvati said as Padma cried harder. "He told her that he respected her too much to do that with her and he honestly did not see the relationship heading anywhere further. He said he wanted to do this before, but the Cup didn't seem like the ideal place and he certainly wasn't going to do it via owl... and that they should just end it before the start of the year so they don't go into the new year with any expectations."

Hope let out a low whistle and swore, sitting back in her seat. "Wow, Pads... I'm sorry..."

"I think it's someone else!" Padma cried. "Hope, use your cards and see if there's someone else!"

Hope blinked at her. "What?!"

"Hope, come on..." Parvati pleaded.

"Ugh..." Hope rolled her eyes but pulled out her cards and did as asked. She handed them to Padma and told her to shuffle. After a moment she handed them back to her. Hope then laid out six cards.

"Okay... you have the Eight of Cups, the Two of Cups in reverse, the Three of Swords, the Knight of Wands, the Hierophant and the Queen of Cups."

"Well!?" Padma prompted.

Hope sighed and placed her elbows on her knees, trying to get a read on what she was seeing. "Well... Eight of Cups means emotionally moving away... so it looks like he had been not feeling it for a while..."

Padma let out a pained gasp and Hope winced. "I can quit if you want..."

"That's probably best-" Parvati said but Padma shook her head.

"No, keep going."

Hope sighed. Damned Ravenclaws and their need to know things they were better off not knowing... Oh, well... "Two of Cups in reverse... he felt like you two weren't a good match... Three of Swords... the actual breakup... Knight of Wands... I don't know, I'm seeing nobility... I'll come back to that one.. Hierophant... he wanted to end it properly... and the Queen of Cups... oh... wow..."

"What?" Padma demanded. She looked hard at the painting of the woman surrounded by water. "Court cards mean another people, don't they? That's someone else, isn't it?"

Hope didn't want to say yes, but it did look like it. It honestly looked like Cedric had a crush on someone else but wanted to be fair and end it with Padma before he did anything. Her eyes flicked back to the other cards. Eight of Cups and Three of Swords were breakup cards, but the Three of Swords was also a triangle card. Two of Cups in reverse meant a failing relationship... Hierophant could have been Hogwarts, as it meant higher institutions. Knight of Wands... what was that? Was that someone else? Someone Padma would meet to take her mind off of it? Or did it mean someone else entirely?

Padma seemed to take Hope's silence as a definite 'yes' and she stood, rushing from the compartment. "I'm going to find the other Ravenclaws," she said tearfully.

"Ugh, this year going to suck..." Hope groaned then bristled. Fred had just walked past her compartment with his brother and Lee Jordan. Parvati quickly shot to her feet and pulled the shade down over the window.

There was an awkward silence. Both Lavender and Parvati exchanged glances while Hope sulked.

"Well, look at it this way," Parvati said in a forced cheerful voice "you're a single woman now. It's a new school year, and there's loads of boys for you to choose from."

_Just like there's loads of girls for him to choose from... _

Unable to take the pitying looks they were both giving her, Hope stood to leave. She saw from her peripheral that Parvati was preparing to come with her and she shook her head.

"I'll be fine, Parv."

She made her way down the train, not knowing exactly where she was headed but knowing she needed to get away from the pitying looks of her friends. They kept looking at her like she was a skinny puppy left in the rain. It was driving her crazy. At least with the Mark crap and the Cup she had a distraction...

"Hey, Hope."

She heard her name from one of the compartments she passed and turned back. Hermione was waving her inside, her book _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 _open on her lap. Inside the compartment with her were all of the fourth year Gryffindor boys. They kept going on and on about Quidditch and it seemed to be working the bushy haired girl's nerves.

"In dire need of estrogen amongst this sausage fest?" Hope asked, plopping next to her. The boys were so engrossed in their conversation they didn't even notice her.

"Yes, please..." Hermione breathed in relief as Ron told Neville about seeing Viktor Krum up close.

"We saw him right up close," the youngest Weasley boy said excitedly as he showed Neville his small miniature of the Bulgarian Seeker. "We were in the Top Box-"

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley.

Everyone looked up. Draco had appeared in the doorway along with his pair of idiots, Crabbe and Goyle behind him. The two lackeys appeared to have grown a foot over the summer. Evidently they had overhead the boys' conversation through the door that Hope had left ajar.

"Ugh, great... I was wondering why my ass was itching," Hope muttered to Hermione.

"I'm pretty sure that's due to leftover Weasel fleas, Mitchell," Malfoy said snidely, earning chuckles from Crabbe and Goyle. Both Hope ad Ron bolted to their feet.

"Eat dung, Malfoy!" Ron snarled.

"Malfoy, considering your pug girlfriend shouldn't you be the one worried about fleas?" Harry said sarcastically as he yanked Hope back into her seat with one hand. He was more worried about her losing it than Ron.

But Malfoy wasn't listening. His cold, gray eyes had drifted to Ron's case. A sleeve from an article of clothing had come loose, maroon and moldy lace cuffs obvious. Ron made a move to shove the item out of sight but Malfoy was too fast for him. He seized the sleeve and pulled.

"Look at this!" he said happily and Hope's brows rose. It was a set of maroon robes that looked more like a maroon and moldy dementor and shroom induced Shakespearean nightmare to Hope. (Jesus, lord! Were those frills?) Malfoy was showing them to his cronies. "Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean, they were very fashionable in the eighteen hundreds..."

Ron had flushed the same color of the robes and he snatched them out of the Slytherin's grip. Malfoy laughed and brushed his hands off on his legs.

"So... going to enter, Weasley? Try to bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, so you'd be able to afford some decent dress robes if you won..."

"What are you on about?" snapped Ron.

"Are you going to enter?" Malfoy repeated as if he were speaking to a mentally challenged child. "I suppose _you_ will, Potter? You never miss the chance to show off, do you?" He then cast a look at Hope "Or perhaps you? Maybe you'll be able to validate your existence if you win, especially since you couldn't keep a Weasley interested."

Hope let out an enraged snarl and Harry kept his hand on her arm. Malfoy noticed this and his smirk widened. "Or, did you already move on... to Potter? Weasley just chucked her and you moved right in? Fast work, Potter."

"Malfoy, I know you have to be stupid, but do you have to be _that_ stupid?" Harry asked, irritated. "And either explain what you're on about or get out."

Malfoy snickered. "Don't tell me you don't know... Weasley's got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don't even _know?_ God, _my father _told me about it ages ago... heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry. Maybe your father's just too junior to know about it, Weasley... They probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him..."

Laughing once more, Malfoy beckoned Crabbe and Goyle, and the three of them disappeared.

Ron got to his feet and slammed the sliding compartment door so hard behind them that the glass shattered.

"Ron!" Hermione cried as she magically repaired the window.

"Slimy little bastard... making it look like he knows everything and we don't!" Ron snarled. " '_Father always associated with the to people at the Ministry.'..._Dad could've gotten a promotion anytime! He just likes it where he is..."

The silence in the compartment was tense and soon Dean, Seamus and Neville all left. Both Ron and Hope sat scowling before the girl stood, deciding she should head back to her own compartment.

"I'm going to change into my robes..." she said as she left.

When she returned to her compartment she found Lavender and Parvati happily talking about what subjects they might study in Divination this year.

"Maybe we'll study palmistry this year... Oooh, or perhaps astrology- Oh, hey. What happened?" Parvati asked when she noticed Hope's scowl.

"Draco fucking Malfoy," Hope answered. She then told them about what happened in the other compartment.

"Oh, what an ass!" Parvati scoffed.

"Just ignore him..." Lavender said easily, "...until the proper time."

"Yeah, yeah..." Hope huffed and went to change into uniform and robes and the other girls followed suit.

Hope stayed quiet during the entire trip, staring out of the window as the rain poured heavily. Needless to say she was quite relieved when the train finally pulled into Hogsmeade Station. The train doors opened and Hope hurried out with her friends. She could hear the voice of Hagrid a few feet away, bellowing for the first years.

"Ooh, those poor kids, having to cross the lake in this..." Parvati lamented as they inched along with the rest of the crowd toward the horseless carriages. The girls climbed into one and sighed in relief at the sudden warmth. A few moments later the carriage made its way up the track to Hogwarts Castle.

Once the carriage ride was over, everyone spilled out of them and toward the castle, covering their heads due to the raging thunderstorm. Once inside they groaned in relief.

"Oh, my god... I am so soa- EEEEK!" Lavender suddenly shrieked as she was bombed with a green water balloon.

Hope had the misfortune of looking up right as a blue water missile came hurtling toward her, striking her dead in the face. Coughing and sputtering, she slipped in a puddle and crashed into the person behind her. They both hit the floor, her falling on top of whoever she had crashed into. A number of other people also slipped and fell due to the domino effect of her fall.

"OW!" Hope shrieked, someone had stepped on her hand in their rush to get away. Another water bomb hit her in the back of the head. She instinctively covered her head and

"PEEVES!" the enraged voice of Professor McGonagall yelled. "Come down here at ONCE!"

"NOT DOING NOTHING!" cackled Peeves from above. There was a splash and a chorus of shrieks that told Hope the poltergeist had hit more people with the balloons.

Hope scrambled to her feet and winced when she saw she had fallen on top of Harry. "Sorry..." she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet as everyone else slipped and tried to get to their feet.

"Not your fault," he said painfully, rubbing his hip idly.

"PEEVES! I will tell the headmaster, I mean it!" McGonagall shrieked.

The poltergeist blew a raspberry, tossed the remainder of his balloons into the air and zoomed off, spewing swear words. McGonagall fumed and turned to the soaked students. "Well, move along, then. Into the Great Hall, come on!"

Wringing out her ponytail, Hope grumpily made her way into the Hall, muttering a few swear words herself. She took a seat at the Gryffindor table, and turned to look at the staff table, noting a few more empty seats. However as she was about to turn back to her empty plate her eyes fell on Fred, laughing easily with George and Lee. Her stomach knotted and she looked away, glaring up into the spelled stormy ceiling. The weather matched her mood perfectly.

"Good evening!" Nearly-Headless Nick said to her and her friends happily.

"What's good about it?" she groused.

"Did we not get a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Hermione asked across from her. Hope looked up again along with a few others and noted that there was indeed a lack of someone to take on the allegedly cursed faculty position.

"Were they unable to find anyone?" Harry asked.

The doors of the Great Hall opened again and a silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of soaked, nervous looking first years to the top of the Hall. The smallest boy of the group, who was wrapped in Hagrid's moleskin coat, did not look nervous at all. In fact he looked downright excited.

"That's my brother, Dennis," Colin Creevey whispered excitedly as the boy caught his eye. The small first year shot Colin a double thumbs-up and mouthed 'I fell in the lake!'

Professor McGonagall now placed a stool in front of the first years as well as the Sorting Hat which burst into song, a different one as it did each year. Once the song finished she clapped along with everyone else though she saw Harry looking curious.

"That's not the song that it sang when it sorted us," he said as he clapped with everyone else.

"Oh yeah... you missed second and third year's sorting," Hope recalled, remembering the infamous flying car incident as well as his fainting spell with the dementors that had him called away from the sorting. "It sings a new one each year..."

Professor McGonagall was now calling names from the parchment in her hand. "Ackerley, Stewart!"

A boy walked forward, trembling, and placed the Sorting Hat on his head. He then sat on the stool.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted.

The Ravenclaw table burst into applause and the boy hurried to sit at the table. Hope noticed Padma was clapping dutifully with the rest of her peers but her heart didn't seem to be in it. Hope could relate. She also caught a glimpse of Cho and Marietta applauding halfheartedly before returning to a heated discussion.

"Baddock, Malcolm!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table burst into cheers and applause as the boy rushed to the table. Fred and George hissed at him as he sat down and Hope had a curious urge to actually applaud for the boy, if for nothing else just to piss of Fred. She managed to quell the urge.

"Hang on, I thought he graduated," Harry said, pointing toward the Slytherin table.

Hope followed where he was pointing and her eyes widened. There, seated next to Pansy Parkinson was Marcus Flint, the very boy she had caught Parkinson with at the Cup. And to Hope's great amusement, Malfoy sat on her other side.

"I heard he didn't pass his Transfiguration and Herbology NEWTs so he's returning to retake them," Hermione informed him as Eleanor Branstone became a Hufflepuff.

Lavender let out a shrill giggle and even Hope had to smirk. "Ooh... this wine will be excellent..."

"Are you ever going to tell me what's going on?" Parvati asked in exasperation before cheering as Dennis Creevey became a Gryffindor and rushed to sit with his brother.

"Colin, I fell in! It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!"

"Cool! It was probably the giant squid!" Colin said just as excitedly.

"Wow..." the new Gryffindor said in awe.

"Dennis, see that boy with the black hair and the glasses. Know who he is, Dennis?"

Harry quickly looked away, turning to the snickering girls. "You're still on about that wine thing?" he asked Lavender and Hope. The two girls, as expected, broke into giggles.

"Don't bother, Harry..." Parvati said with a sigh. "They still haven't told me."

"Who cares about wine, I just want food..." Ron moaned, rubbing his stomach.

The Sorting soon ended with Kevin Whitby becoming a Hufflepuff and Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and stool, taking them away. Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet, beaming around at the students, his arms wide in welcome.

"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, voice echoing around the hall "Tuck in."

"Oh, my god, yes!" Hope cried as the plates filled with food.

She filled her plate with a bit of everything and took a comforting bite of roast beef. "Mmm... so good..."

"You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight," Nearly-Headless Nick said as he watched the students tear into their food. "There was trouble in the kitchens earlier."

"Why? Wha' 'appened?" Harry asked through a big chunk of steak.

"Peeves, of course," the ghost said as though that were explanation enough. "He wanted to attend the feast and you all know what he's like so that was out of the question. Can't see a plate of food without throwing it. But, the Bloody Baron put his foot down and forbade him from coming. So, Peeves being Peeves decided to get his revenge by wreaking havoc in the kitchen... Pots and pans everywhere, kitchen flooding with soup... Terrified the house-elves out of their minds..."

_Clang._

Hermione had knocked over her golden goblet, pumpkin juice spilled over the tablecloth and into Hope's already rain-soaked lap. "What the hell?!" the girl cried but Hermione paid no mind.

"There are house-elves here?" she asked, horror-struck.

"Certainly. Over a hundred. The largest number in Britain," Nearly-Headless Nick told her.

"But, I've never seen one!"

"Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" the ghost said. "Come out at night to light the fires, do a bit of cleaning-"

Hope stopped paying attention, instead accepting a napkin from Harry. "Thanks..." she did her best to wipe the pumpkin juice off of her pants.

"You all right, Hope?" he asked.

"Ehh... I've been better," she said with a small shrug. "How about you? How was your summer before the Cup?"

Harry gave a small shrug. "It was awful until you gave me that tablet. I still owe you for that, by the way."

"No, you don't. It was a present."

"Well, I owe you a good present," he said and neither of them noticed Lavender watching them with a small smile. "Oh, and I never told you about Dudley's diet..." He launched into a tale of what had taken place when his cousin was forced to go on the diet and his aunt and uncle expected him to live off of carrot sticks right along with him and how everyone had sent him food.

"Seriously?" Hope asked with a scoff. "Your aunt and uncle sound like crackheads with drinking problems."

"Pretty much," Harry agreed.

"You could've written me. I'd have sent you some food... Probably a pizza... Or... something..."

He waved away her concern. "The cake was help enough... And the tablet. I think I'm in love with _Doctor Who._"

"I tried to get into it. Not really a fan," she said and he stared at her as if she were bonkers.

"Remind me again why we're friends?" he asked and she laughed.

"How're you an Cho?"

He gave a small shrug. "Well enough, I gather. We wrote a bit over the summer, I saw her at the Cup-"

"It was dark that night in the woods so you didn't see all the hickeys she left on him-" Ron said before taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

"Shut up, Ron!" Harry snapped then turned back to a smirking Hope. "But we didn't talk much on the train. I might head to her table before-" he stopped when the food began to vanish from the plates.

Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. Everyone fell silent so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard.

"So! Now that we are all fed and watered, I must one more ask your attention, while I give out a few notices." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle this year has been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anyone would like to check it."

Dumbledore's mouth twitched as if holding back a laugh before he continued. "Also, I would like you remind you that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. And, it is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

"WHAT?!" Harry gasped.

Hope honestly didn't particularly care. In fact she took a sort of vindictive pleasure at seeing the horrified look on Fred's face at the news. _That's why you can't have nice things._

All of the members of the house team were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore as he went on. "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy, but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great please in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-"

But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open. A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a staff, draped in a black cloak. Everyone turned to regard the stranger as he was suddenly illuminated by a fork of lightening that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of hair, then walked toward teachers' table. The was a clunk with every other step he took. He reached the end of the top table, turned and limped toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling, throwing his face into sharp relief. Quite a few people bit back gasps.

His face looked like it had been carved from wood, every inch scarred. A large chunk of his nose was missing, and his mouth looked like a diagonal gash. However it was the man's eyes that shocked everyone.

One of them was small, dark and beady and the other was large, round as a coin and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eyes was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side independently of the normal eye- then it rolled back right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.

The stranger shook Dumbledore's hand, and the man's hand was just as scarred as his face. The two men spoke quietly about something then Dumbledore gestured for the man to take a seat at the empty chair at the staff table. The stranger sat down and pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose and sniffed. He then took a small knife from his pocket and began to eat. He also completely ignored the pumpkin juice in front of him and took a swig from a flask he had pulled from his pocket. His normal eye was fixed on the sausages but the blue one was still darting around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Dumbledore said brightly "Professor Moody." Dumbledore and Hagrid both applauded the man but neither the staff or students did so, all were still shocked at his entrance and transfixed by his appearance. Moody paid no mind to the less than warm welcome.

"Moody?" Harry muttered to Ron. "Mad-Eye Moody? The one your dad went to help this morning?"

"Ehh?" Hope asked, confused.

"I'll tell you later," Harry whispered back.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "As I was saying," he said, smiling at the students who were all still staring at Moody "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" Fred said loudly. Hope bristled at hearing his voice.

The tension that filled the Hall since Moody's arrival broke. People laughed and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.

"I am _not_ joking, Mr. Weasley. The Triwizard Tournament... and for those of you who do know what this is, forgive me for giving a short explanation to those who do not. Those that do may allow their attention to wander freely..."

Hope and Harry paid rapt attention as the headmaster went into an explanation of how the Triwizard Tournament was a established over seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of magic: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was a way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities... until the death toll rose so high that the tournament was discontinued.

"Death toll?" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. However, everyone else seemed to not share her anxiety.

People were now whispering excitedly. Harry was leaning forward in his seat, more interested in hearing about the tournament than worrying about death tolls.

"There have been attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided that time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger. The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

"I'm going for it!" Fred hissed down the table, face lit with enthusiasm.

"That judge's cheese would've had to slipped right of his or her cracker if they pick him," Hope muttered to the Lavender. If Fred was picked as champion then she just might cheer for the other schools.

_Wow, I am feeling petty... Eh, whatever. Fuck him. _

"Hope, you should enter! You'd easily make it past any task!" Parvati whispered to her, thinking of her healing ability. "Then you'd win and that moron would want you back and you'd just coldly tell him to sod off while you have a throng of smitten man-boys ready to serve your every desire... You could _buy_ man-boys with that money... all of them hotter than the last!"

Hope and Lavender burst into giggles at that and Hope felt a bit of savage glee at the scowl on Fred's face. Apparently he'd heard what Parvati said. The three laughed even harder.

"You girls are evil..." Harry said with a shake of his head. Though he was imagining himself winning the tournament... Cho's face awash in admiration. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have a greed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are seventeen or older will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This-" Dumbledore had to raise his voice slightly as people made noises of outrage at these words and Hope let out a small sigh but smirked easily at Fred's furious face "- is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it s highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion."

Fred and George still looked mutinous as Dumbledore's light blue eyes flicked to them. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen. The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your wholehearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. Now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all the be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop-chop!"

People all got up to head to their common rooms.

"They can't do that!" George said angrily as they ascended the steps to Gryffindor . "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"

"They're not stopping me from entering," Fred said stubbornly. "We'll just have to fool this impartial judge. Sounds like once this judge knows who wants to enter, he'll choose the best from each school and never mind how old they are."

"Then I'm pretty sure it's not going to be you!" Hope said scathingly over her shoulder. Fred's face darkened in a glare and George hurriedly got out of the way.

"Oh, hell..." Harry muttered. Was it nearing a full moon?

"Look, Hope-" Fred started once they got into the common room but she cut him off.

"Fuck you!" Hope then angrily stormed up to the girls' dorms along side Hermione who was muttering about 'slave labor' as she looked at the flames dancing in their hearth.

"What was that about?" Katie Bell asked the twins to break the awkward silence. But, Fred and George didn't answer. They only went upstairs to the boys dorms and Harry and Ron followed awkwardly after them.

"What d'you reckon?" Ron asked Harry once they were in their own dorm. "Be cool to enter, wouldn't it? But, I s'pose they'd want someone older. Dunno if we've learned enough..."

"I know I haven't," Neville said gloomily "I expect my gran'd want me to try, though. She's always going on about how I should be upholding the family honor..."

The boys changed into their pajamas and climbed into bed. Harry found a bunch of images forming in his mind's eye. He had hoodwinked the impartial judge into believing he was seventeen... He had become Hogwarts champion... he was standing on the grounds, arms raised in triumph in front of the whole school... Cho was staring at him in complete awe and admiration...

Harry grinned into his pillow and clicked off his lamp.

* * *

The next morning the storm had gone though it was still gray and gloomy outside. Harry, Ron and Hermione examined their schedules at breakfast and when Hope came down there was a definite chill as she passed Fred, George and Lee Jordan who were all discussing magical methods of aging themselves to and bluffing their way into the Triwizard Tournament.

"Today's not bad..." Ron said as he examined his schedule. Hope took a seat and grabbed hers, seeing what they had.

"Herbology with the Hufflepuffs... and Care of Magical Creatures with, ugh, Slytherin..."

"Double Divination!" Parvati squealed happily and Hope scoffed, knowing which class she was napping in today.

"Wonderful..." Harry groaned.

"Well, you should've given it up like me, shouldn't you?" Hermione said briskly as she saw the less than enthusiastic looks on Harry and Hope's faces. "Then you'd be doing something sensible, like Arithmancy."

"I'll be doing something sensible," Hope said and she pulled out a dozen nail polishes of different colors. "I'm thinking red and black today..."

"Hope, that class has enough strong smells in there without me getting high from nail polish," Harry complained.

"You'll live," she said sweetly.

"So, you're eating today," Ron said to Hermione as she buttered herself some toast.

"I've decided there are better ways of making a stand about elf rights," said Hermione.

"Did I miss something?" Hope asked and Ron shook his head.

"Don't ask."

A rustling noise above them had everyone looking up, and a hundred owls came soaring through the open windows, carrying the morning mail. Harry looked up and Hope noticed his face fall as he saw Hedwig was nowhere to be seen.

"Expecting something?" she asked as he watched Malfoy's eagle owl deliver a package of sweets which he was disgustingly sharing with Pansy.

"I had wrote to Sirius..." he told her lowly. "The day before I left for the Cup, but he hasn't written me back yet..."

The bell rang and they set off toward Herbology and she gave him a sigh. "I'm sure he's fine... And I'm sure Hedwig's fine... that owl's too smart. He's just somewhere far, is all- ewww..."

They had entered greenhouse three and Hope was distracted, along with Harry, by the ugliest plants they had ever seen. They resembled thick, giant black slugs that shot up vertically from their potting soil. Each was squirming slightly and had a number of large, shiny swellings on it, which appeared to be full of liquid. Needless to say that when Professor Sprout told them that they would be collecting the pus from these plants, called bubotubers, they were all less than pleased.

"What!?" Seamus asked, revolted.

"Pus, Finnigan, pus. And make certain not to waste any as it's quite valuable. Wear your dragon-hide gloves as the pus, when undiluted, can do strange things to the skin."

"Ewww..." Hope repeated as she squeezed one of the swellings, resulting in a loud pop and a large amount of thick yellowish-green liquid that smelled of petrol. "It's like popping overly large zits..."

"Funny you should mention that," Professor Sprout said as she walked over to observe their progress. "This is actually an excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne. The pus collected'll go to Madam Pomfrey. Should stop students from resorting to desperate measures to rid themselves of pimples."

"Like poor Eloise Midgen," Hannah Abbot said quietly. "She tried to curse hers off..."

"Silly girl..." Professor Sprout said with a sigh. "But, Madam Pomfrey fixed her nose back on in the end..."

The pus had been collected into several vials by the time the bell sounded from the castle, signaling the end of the lesson. The Hufflepuffs went off back to the castle for Transfiguration while the Gryffindors headed across the lawn toward Hagrid's cabin.

Hagrid stood outside of his hut, one hand around the collar of Fang. There were several open wooden crates on the ground at his feet, and Fang was trying to get closer to them, whimpering and straining at his collar. As the students drew closer, an odd rattling noise reached their ears, punctuated by what sounded like minor explosions.

"Mornin'!" Hagrid greeted happily. "Be'er wait fer the Slytherins, they won' want ter mis this- Blast-Ended Skrewts!"

Lavender took a peek into the box. "Eurgh!" she jumped back.

Hope leaned over the crate, curious then let out a disgusted gag. "Ugh! What in the-"

Harry had to agree with the girls. The creatures looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, awfully pale and slimy-looking. Their legs stuck out in odd places and they had no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, bumping into the sides of the boxes. They gave off the smell of rotting fish and every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skwert, and with a small _phut_, it would shoot forward a few inches.

"On'y jus' hatched," Hagrid said happily "so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Though we'd make a bit of a project of it!"

"And why would we _want_ to raise them?" the cold voice of Draco Malfoy said from behind them. Crabbe and Goyle were snickering and Pansy, holding his hand, gave a shrill giggle.

"And wonderful..." Hope sighed though Lavender was smirking at the Slytherin couple's joined hands.

Hagrid looked stumped by the question.

"I mean, what do they do?" Malfoy asked. "What's the _point _of them?"

Hagrid opened his mouth, apparently thinking hard. There was a few seconds pause then he said roughly "Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things. I've never had 'em before , not sure what they'll go fer.. I got ant eggs an' frog livers so just try 'em out with a bit of each."

"You are shitting me..." Hope muttered under her breath as she picked up a handful of frog liver and lowered it into the crates to tempt the disgusting creatures. "This is why I hate Mondays..."

Harry, who had nothing but great affection for Hagrid, sucked it up and picked up a handful of frog guts along with Hermione and Ron; however he had a suspicion that this was pointless as the skrewts didn't seem to have mouths.

Things were quiet for a few moments, the only sound being the squelches of the frog guts, and Lavender's mutinous griping to Hope and Parvati. Then someone yelled.

"Owww!" Dean yelled. "That thing just farted fire and burned me!"

"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," Hagrid said with a nod.

The same thing happened in Hope's crate and she squealed when she received a burn on the hand. "Son of a bit-"

Harry saw her hand beginning to slowly heal and without thinking, he took her hand and shoved it in her robe pockets. Hope froze and looked at him but he wasn't looking in her direction. He looked around to see if anyone noticed Hopes healing. Parvati had seen but luckily everyone else was too busy being revolted or dodging blasts to pay attention. Well, Lavender was also looking at them but she was smirking at the two of them with raised brows.

"What's that pointy thing on it?" Parvati asked, disgusted.

"Ah, some of 'em have got stings," Hagrid said enthusiastically and Parvati yanked her hand from the box. "I reckon they're the male. The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies... I think they might be ter suck blood..."

"Oh for hell's sake..." Hope grumbled under her breath. "This is some bull..."

"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," Malfoy said sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that burn, sting, and bite all at once?"

"Just because they aren't pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione snapped at Malfoy.

"You'd know about that, wouldn't you, Granger? Is that why Potter keeps you around?" Pansy said snidely when Hagrid went to check on Dean and Seamus's crate. Daphne and Millicent broke into snickers.

"Parkinson, this box smells like what's under your skirt, and you've got the nerve to talk shit?" Hope asked in a deadpan voice.

Pansy's mouth fell open in an insulted squeal and Malfoy rushed to her defense. "Pansy, calm down... She's just jealous."

"Of your lesbian relationship? If I liked girls, Malfoy, you'd be the last one I went for."

The Gryffindor boys all burst into quiet snickers at that. Malfoy only gave her a cold smile. "Can I ask you a personal question? Have you had more or less dust bunnies in your knickers since Weasley ditched you? More because it's been a while, or less because he's so disgusting?"

Harry and Parvati both grabbed Hope to keep her from launching at Malfoy, just as Hermione grabbed Ron, but luckily the bell sounded, signaling the end of the lesson. Malfoy and his cronies all headed back to the castle, laughing loudly.

"Oooh! That- That- Wouldn't be talking so much shit, either of them, if they knew- Oooh!" Hope was now fuming as she made a beeline for the Gryffindor table. "I should've just let it fly right then and there!"

"Let what fly?" Ron asked angrily though the girls ignored him.

"Why didn't you?" Lavender asked.

"Because I'm saving it..." Hope said testily.

"For what?"

"I don't know... I'm hoping to let it fly in Potions or something..."

Lavender covered her mouth with her hand. "You'll get so many detentions..."

"I don't give a fuck!" Hope snarled, slamming her hand on the table, upending her plate of noodles. She then got up and stormed out. The Slytherins had just entered and it was clear she was trying to avoid them by any means possible. Harry couldn't blame her. He'd been hard pressed not to punch Malfoy for that remark. Pansy saying things like that was one thing... He'd figured it was just best to stand back when girls started trading verbal stabs. (He agreed with Dean, girls were scary when they fought.) But, Malfoy...

He was tempted to follow after her, but Parvati had already done so. Harry figured she'd probably be able to calm Hope down better than he would so he stayed to finish his food.

When he arrived in Divination he found Hope sitting at a small table by herself while Lavender and Parvati sat up front as they loved Trelawney. They kept trying to coax Hope to join their table but she just gave a shake of her head and he knew why. The fire at the front of the room was spewing the same perfumed smoke that made his head go funny every time he came in here.

Deciding to take a page from her book, he sat down at her table, Ron joining them.

"What're you reading?" he asked. He knew her favorite pass time in classes she didn't like was to pretend to read her text when she was actually reading a comic or paperback.

"_The Sandman_ by Neil Gaiman," she said as she showed him the comic hidden in her copy of _Unfogging the Future._

"I wanted to ask if I could borrow that last year..."

"Why didn't you?"

"We were fighting," he said, remembering the infamous 'aardvark kiss' incident from last year.

"Oh, yeah..."

"So, what were you going to let loose?" Ron asked her, referring to earlier in Care of Magical Creatures.

"Hmm?" Hope asked innocently and Harry wasn't buying it.

"C'mon..." Harry urged, giving her a light elbow and she smirked. "You're not going to tell us?"

"Nope."

He lowered his voice "You trust me with other secrets and you won't tell me this one?"

"Yep."

"I'm wounded."

She gave him a smile and spoke sweetly "And, I'll heal you... But, I still won't tell you."

Harry gave a small laugh and conceding sigh. "Fine..."

Neither of them noticed the giddy looks Lavender tossed over her shoulder at them, or the scrutinizing stare from Ron. However, Professor Trelawney soon made her appearance known.

"Good day," she said in her misty voice and Hope shut her book, snickering. The cricket-like woman was peering down at Harry with the same tragic expression she always wore when she saw him. "You are preoccupied, my dear..." she said mournfully to him. "My inner eye sees past your brave face and flirtations-

"I'm not flirting!" Harry exclaimed, going scarlet and the class burst into snickers.

"-to the troubled soul within," Trelawney continued as if she hadn't been yelled at "And I regret to say that your worries are not baseless. I see difficult times ahead for you, alas... most difficult... I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass... and perhaps sooner than you think..."

The woman then seated herself before the fire while Harry grumbled beneath his breath. Ron was still snickering and Hope was clearly biting back giggles though she was blushing as well. "Way to help, you two," he whispered scathingly.

"My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars," Trelawney said. "The movements of the planets and the mysterious portents they reveal only to those who understand the steps of the celestial dance..."

"Yeah, and to astrology dot com," Hope muttered to Dean in front of her who snickered.

However, Harry was beginning to feel sleepy and dull-witted as always when he breathed in the perfumed smoke. But, he couldn't stop thinking about what she had just said. "_ 'I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass...'"_

However, Professor Trelawney was an old fraud. The only thing he was dreading was that Sirius had been caught, but what did this old bat know? Her fortune telling was nothing more than guesswork and spooky-talk.

Except, of course, for the time at the end of last term, when she had made the prediction about Voldemort rising again... and Dumbledore himself had said that he thought that trance had been genuine, when Harry had described it to him...

"Harry!" Ron and Hope muttered.

"What?"

Harry looked around and saw the whole class was staring at him. He sat up straight and flushed again. He had been dozing off, lost in the heat and his thoughts.

"I was saying, my dear, that you were clearly born under the baleful influence of Saturn," Trelawney said with a small note of resentment in her voice that he wasn't riveted by her words.

"Born under... what?" Harry asked confused.

"Saturn, dear, the planet Saturn!" now she was irritated. "I was saying that Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your birth... Your dark hair... your mean stature... tragic loss so young in life... I think I am right in saying that you were born in midwinter, my dear?"

"No, I was born in July," Harry replied and Hope and Ron both managed to hide their laughs.

A half an hour later, each of them were given a circular chart and had to fill in the position of the planets at their moment of birth. They had to consult charts, timetables and calculate angles. It was all quite dull...

"I got two Neptunes... That can't be right..." Harry said with a frown. "That can't be right..."

"Ugh... why can't I just get my phone, go to an astrology website and get my chart in two seconds?" Hope moaned, knocking her head on the desk.

"Ooh, I've got an unaspected planet! Which one's that, Professor?" Lavender asked.

"It's Uranus, my dear," Professor Trelawney told her, peering down to look at the chart.

"Oh, god... Who's going to say it?" Hope muttered under her breath. Whenever a teacher said 'Uranus' some fool had to make a joke-

"Can I look at Uranus too, Lavender?" Ron asked.

"Damn it, Ron!" Hope huffed and swatted his arm.

Hope wasn't the only one unimpressed with Ron's crass joke. Professor Trelawney had heard him, and it was the reason she gave them all so much homework at the end of the class.

"A detailed analysis of the way the planetary movements in the coming month will affect you, with reference to your personal chart," she snapped, sound eerily like Professor McGonagall. "I want it ready to hand in next Monday, and no excuses!"

"Old bat..." Ron grumbled as they reached the entrance hall. "That'll take all weekend, that will..."

"It's your own fault," Hope said acidly. "You're the one who had to go and be a pig."

"You're a pig all the time!" Ron retorted.

"Yeah, but I know when and how to execute it. You have no timing at all," she then left them to join Lavender and Parvati.

"What happened?" Hermione asked as she caught up with them as they stood in line to enter the Hall for dinner.

"Ron made a 'Uranus' joke at the wrong time..." Harry said with an eye roll and Hermione scoffed.

"Honestly..."

"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"

The Gryffindors turned. Malfoy and his idiots were standing behind them, all looking very pleased.

"What do you want?" Ron asked shortly.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" he said, waving a copy of the _Daily Prophet _and speaking very loudly, so everyone in the entrance hall could hear.

"_It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."_

Malfoy gave a delighted snicker "They didn't even get your dad's name right, Weasley. Almost as though he's a complete nonentity, hmm?"

Everyone in the hall was listening now. Malfoy straightened the paper and continued to read.

"_Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene."_

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" Malfoy flipped the paper over and held it up. "Is that even a house? And, wow, your mother could do with losing a few dozen pounds, couldn't she?"

Ron was shaking with fury, face and ears red. Everyone was staring at him.

"Sod off, Malfoy," Harry snarled. "C'mon, Ron..."

"Oh, you stayed with them this summer, right, Potter?" Malfoy smirked "So, is his mother really that much of a fat ass, or is it just the picture?"

"Considering your mother always looks like she's got dung under her nose, I wouldn't talk if I were you, Malfoy," Harry said as he and Hermione held Ron back to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy. "Or was that just because you were with her?"

"Don't you insult my mother, Potter!"

"Shut up, then, Malfoy." Harry then turned away.

BANG!

People screamed. Harry felt something white-hot graze the side of his face. He grabbed his wand and spun, but then he heard another loud BANG.

"OH NO YOU DON'T LADDIE!"

Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase. His wand was out and it was pointing at a pure white ferret, which was shivering on the floor, exactly where Malfoy had been standing. Everyone was silent, no one moved but Moody. The man turned to look at Harry, his normal eye was looking at him while his blue one was pointing in the back of his head.

"Did he get you?" Moody growled.

"No... he missed..."

Goyle had bent down to try to get the ferret but Moody growled out "LEAVE IT!" It turned out the magical eye could see through the back of his head.

Moody limped toward the ferret which gave a terrified squeak and took off, streaking toward the dungeons.

"Don't even think about it!" Moody then pointed his wand at the ferret, it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack on the floor, and then bounced upward once more.

"I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," he bounced the ferret higher and higher and it squealed in pain. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy..."

The ferret flew through the air, its legs and tail flailing.

"Professor Moody!"

Everyone looked up to see Professor McGonagall come down the marble staircase.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," Moody said calmly as he continued to bounce the ferret from the floor to the ceiling and back again.

"W-what are you doing?!"

"Teaching."

"Wh- Is that a student!?" shrieked the woman.

"Yep."

"No!" she pulled out her want and with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had returned, lying in a heap on the floor. His hair was a mess, and his face was bright pink. He needed help from Crabbe and Goyle to get to his feet.

"We _never_ use Transfiguration as a punishment! Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that!?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah..." he said unconcernedly.

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that, then..."Moody said as he glared at Malfoy.

Malfoy's gray eyes were watering with pain and humiliation as he looked up at Moody, muttering something along the lines of "My father..."

"Oh yeah?" Moody limped toward the boy and Malfoy shrank back. "I know your father of old, boy. Tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son. Tell him that from me. Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"

Malfoy gave a resentful nod and Moody took him by the arm. "I've been looking forward to a chat with him, another old friend... Come on, you..." he then dragged him off toward the dungeons.

Professor McGonagall stared after them for a few moments before she turned and headed toward her office.

"Oh, my GOD!" Hope squealed as excited chatter burst all around her. "Oh, my God! New favorite teacher ever!"

"That was the best thing I had seen in my life!" Ron exclaimed then shut his eyes with an expression of rapture on his face "Draco Malfoy the amazing bouncing ferret..."

"But, he could've really hurt Malfoy," Hermione said quietly as they all sat down for dinner.

"So what?!" Harry and Hope said at the same time.

"Stop ruining the best moment of my life!" Ron cried.

Hermione scoffed then began to eat at top speed.

"You're going to the library again?" Harry asked.

"Loads to do!" she said as she took a gulp of juice to wash down her food before departing for the library. The moment she left her seat was taken by Fred Weasley. Hope pointedly moved to a different section of the Gryffindor table however he didn't seem fussed.

"Moody! How cool is he!?"

"Beyond cool!" George said as he sat down across from his twin. "We just had him this afternoon."

"What was it like?" Harry asked.

"Never had a lesson like it!" Fred exclaimed, not seeing Hope roll her eyes at every word he said or the small pats Parvati and Lavender gave her.

"He knows, man... Knows what it's like to be out there _doing it,"_ George said.

"Doing what?" Harry asked.

"Fighting the Dark Arts."

"Man..." Ron moaned as he looked into his bag and consulted his schedule. "We haven't got him until Thursday!"

Hope, deciding that she didn't want to be down here for dinner, packed a few things in a napkin and left the Hall. Lavender and Parvati fell into step with her.

"Hey, don't let him ruin anything," Lavender said fervently. "We just saw Malfoy become the rat he really is!"

"Technically it was a ferret," Hope said with a small smile.

"I still can't believe Pansy wasn't there to try and save him," Parvati said "Where do you think she was?"

"Probably shagging a troll..." Lavender said easily and she and Hope then burst into giggles.

They rounded a corner, past a group of fifth year Ravenclaw girls that included Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe. The girls seemed to be having a heated discussion.

"Cho, just get it over with..."

"Mari... I will... just not-" she then stopped when she saw the younger Gryffindors. "Hi."

"Hi," they said, still giggling about Pansy.

"Is it true Professor Moody turned Draco Malfoy from Slytherin into a ferret?" Marietta asked them.

"Oh, it was like a candy cloud of wishes and rainbows," Hope said happily, earning a small laugh from the girls. They then headed off in another direction, resuming their discussion but this time in whispers the Gryffindors didn't care to try and decipher.

* * *

Two days passed with little incident, though Neville was given a detention from Snape for melting yet another cauldron. It seemed that Snape had reached new levels of vindictive bitchiness over the summer, for he forced the boy to disembowel a barrel full of toads. Poor Neville had returned from it in near shock, ready to collapse.

"I bet he never had a single date in school..." Hope scoffed, comforting Neville as Hermione taught him a charm to remove the guts from his fingers. "I wouldn't be shocked if he's a forty year old virgin..."

"Can you not put Snape and sex in the same conversation, please?" Harry said with an exaggerated shudder. "We've had enough gross things to deal with this week."

Hope snickered and returned to her Runes homework.

"Though, has anyone noticed that Snape seems a bit scared of Moody?" Harry said as he consulted his lunar chart to do his Divination homework. Oh, lord... full moon on Friday. He cast a wary glance at Hope.

"I've noticed," Hope says. "Makes me love him even more and I haven't even had a lesson with him yet." Indeed Snape would always avoid Moody's eye whenever he passed the man in the hallway or sat at the staff table at meals.

"I hope he turns Snape into a horned toad and bounces _him_ around next," Ron said with a misty eyed expression.

When Thursday finally rolled around, the Gryffindors were so psyched for their first DADA lesson with Moody that they arrived for lunch early and lined up outside of his classroom before the bell even rung.

There were two chairs in the front of the room still empty, one right in front of the desk. Harry and Hope both looked at each other and made a beeline for the one right near the desk, resulting in a scooch-battle, both of them trying to shove the other out of the seat using their hips.

"Move it, Harry!"

"I was here firs-"

"Harry, get your bony ass outta my sea-Ah!" Hope squealed and slid out of the seat when Harry squeezed her in the side. She was quite ticklish. "Jerk!"

She flounced into the other seat and flipped him off as he grinned triumphantly. Behind them Lavender was smirking.

Soon, the class was strangely quiet as they waited for Professor Moody to arrive. Soon they heard the unmistakable sound of his clunking footsteps coming down the corridor. He then entered the room, looking as frightening as ever. They saw the clawed, wooden foot protruding from beneath his roes.

"You can put those away," he growled, stumping over to his desk and sitting down "those books. You won't need them."

The class returned their copies of _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ to their bags and perked up, excitedly.

Moody took out a register and called out the names of the students, his normal eye fixed on the parchment, his magical eye fixing on each student as he or she answered.

"Right," he began when the last person said they were present "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class."

Hope perked up at the mention of the only other werewolf she had met, other than her family but otherwise said nothing.

"Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures. You've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, vampires, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"

The class nodded and gave a murmur of assent.

"But, you're behind – very behind- on dealing with curses," said Moody. "So, I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark-"

"Wait, you're not staying?" Ron had said suddenly.

Moody's magical eye spun and landed on Ron who froze, looking apprehensive. But, soon, the man smiled, and while it was a bizarre, frightening thing, it was good to know that he could indeed do something as friendly as a smile. Ron relaxed.

"You're Arthur Weasley's son, eh? Your father got me out of a tight corner a few days ago. I'll just be staying a year, then I'll be going back to my quiet retirement." He gave a harsh laugh then continued. "So, curses. The come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm not supposed to teach you illegal Dark cures until your sixth year an only show you countercurses for now. But, Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How can you defend yourself against something you've never seen? A witch or wizard who is about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to give you a friendly warning. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."

Lavender blushed and jumped, and Hope rolled her eyes. She had been showing Parvati her horoscope under her desk. Moody's eye must've been able to see through wood as well as the back of his head.

"So, do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"

Hands rose tentatively into the air, along with Ron's and Hermione's. Moody pointed at Ron, though his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender.

"Er... dad told me about the Imperius Curse..."

"Ah," Moody said appreciatively "you father would know of that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."

Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his drawer and took out a jar. Inside were three of the largest tarantulas anyone had ever seen. Ron shrank back in his seat.

Moody reached into the jar and held it in the palm of his hand so that they could all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and said "_Imperio!"_

The spider jumped from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward, like a trapeze artist. It stretched out its legs, did a back flip and then did a plie on the teacher's desk. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider then did an unmistakable tap dance.

Everyone broke into a laughter, except for Moody.

"Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did that to you?"

Everyone stopped laughing at once.

"Complete control..." Moody said as the spider did the worm on his desk, then began to roll back and forth "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats."

Ron gave a shudder.

"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse. Some job the Ministry had, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will. Now, the Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIILANCE!" he barked and everyone jumped.

Moody then placed the twirling spider into the jar. "Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"

Hermione's hand flew into the air along with Neville's. This caused a few raised brows as Neville only volunteered in information in Herbology. Neville looked a bit surprised at his own daring.

"Yes?" Moody said, magical eye fixed on Neville.

"There's... erm... the Cruciatus Curse..." he said in a small but distinctive voice.

Moody was looking at Neville now with both eyes. "Your name's Longbottom?" he asked, magical eye swooping down to check his class list.

Neville nodded nervously and Moody then reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it on the desk where it remained still, too scared to even move.

"The Cruciatus Curse," Moody said and then pointed his wand at the spider "Engorgio..." the spider grew three times its size and Ron let out a whimper an pushed his chair back as far is it would go. Moody paid no mind. "Needs to be bigger for you to get the idea..." He then pointed his wand at the enlarged spider. "_Crucio!"_

The spider's legs bent in upon its body, it rolled over and twitched awfully. It rocked from side to side. It had no vocals so it couldn't scream but if it could, it would have been screaming awfully. Moody did not remove his wand and the spider started to jerk and shudder more violently.

"STOP IT!" Hermione shrieked.

A few people turned to her and saw she was looking, not at the spider, but Neville. The boy was trembling, his hands were clenched on the desk in front of him, eyes wide in horror, his face pale.

Moody raised his wand. The spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch.

"Reducio," he said and the spider went back to its proper size. He placed it in the jar.

"Pain... You don't need screws or knives to torture a person if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse. That one was very popular once too... Now, does anyone know of any others?"

Hope, who had been looking worriedly at Neville, turned to Moody and raised her hand slowly.

"Yes?"

"Erm... I know that..." she swallowed "some witches when holding off a vampire... they do something like..." she gestured at the spiders in the jar "like that... but, it's centered in the head..."

Harry glanced at her, not knowing that. He looked around and saw that a few others, Hermione in particular, also looked surprised at what Hope had supplied them with. Moody nodded.

"Ah, yes... Some witches who are very skilled and disciplined, are able to perform a wandless, wordless spell that forces vampires, or anyone with a supernatural healing ability, to feel unspeakable pain, centered in the brain. The force the target's blood vessels to burst, over and over again. Depending on the skill of the witch or wizard and the strength of the vampire in question the results can vary. Obviously, I can't show you that trick on the spiders. Wouldn't survive two seconds of it. American witches are quite fond of that trick." Now he focused intently on her. "Mitchell, right? You're the one who took on a vampire last Christmas?"

Hope squirmed, feeling all eyes on her. "Yes..."

"Nice work, that." he said. Hope flushed a bit and he turned back to the rest of the class. "Right... anyone know of any others?"

Harry looked around. He had been thoroughly interested in what Hope had told the class, but once Moody had asked of other curses, he looked around to see what the others would say. Hermione's hand shook as it rose again and Moody turned to her.

"Yes?"

"Avada Kedavra," Hermione whispered.

Several people looked around uneasily at her, including Ron.

"Ah..." Moody said, a slight smile on his lopsided mouth, "Yes, the last and the worst. The Killing Curse."

"The _what?_" Hope muttered, eyes wide and stomach dropping.

He put his hand in the jar and scooped out the last spider though it tried to evade his fingers, as if it knew what was coming. However, Moody had trapped it and placed it on the desk. The spider tried to scuttle across the wooden surface but Moody had raised his wand and the class held its breath.

"Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared.

There was a flash of blinding green light, the sensation of a fast, invisible, huge something had flown through the air, and the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but clearly dead.

Some students stifled cries. Hope's hands flew to her mouth and Ron nearly toppled out of his seat as the dead spider skidded toward him.

Moody swept the dead spider off the desk and onto the floor.

"Not nice, not pleasant," he said calmly. "There's no blocking it. There's no counter curse. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."

Harry's face reddened as Moody's eyes looked into his own. Everyone was looking around at him too. Harry stared at the blank black board, as though enthralled by it though he wasn't seeing anything.

So... that's how his parents had died... exactly like that spider. No marks, no warning... Had they simply seen a flash of green light as well and heard the rush of death speeding toward them before the life was sapped from their bodies?

He had been picturing his parents' deaths for three years now, ever since he learned it wasn't a car crash as he had always been led to believe. Wormtail had betrayed his parents' to Voldemort, who ha come to find them at their home. How Voldemort had killed his father first... How James Potter had tried to hold Voldemort off and shouted at his wife to take Harry and run... Voldemort had advanced on Lily Potter, told her to move out of the way so he could kill Harry... she had begged him to kill her instead and refused to stop shielding her son. Voldemort then murdered her as well, before turning his wand on Harry...

The only reason Harry knew these details was because he heard his parents' deaths and voices when he fought the dementors last year... that was what the dementors did to their victims: force them to recall the worst moments of their lives, and drown, powerless, in their own despair.

Moody was speaking again, from a long tunnel, it seemed to Harry. It took a great effort, but he pulled himself back to the present and listen to what the man was saying.

"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful amount of magic behind it. You could all get out your wands and say the words and I doubt as much as a nosebleed. But, that doesn't matter. I'm not here to show you how to do it,. And I'm sure you're wondering 'if there's no counter curse, then why is he showing us?' because you've _got to know._ You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared, and the class jumped again.

"Now, those three curses... Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus, are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is a life sentence in Azkaban That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need to be prepared. You need arming. But, most of all you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills and copy this down."

They spent the rest of the class copying down notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the bell rang and when the classes was finally dismissed everyone burst into talk as they spilled into the halls. Most people were discussing the curses in awed voices.

"Did you see it twitch?"

"What about when he killed it, just like that?"

"Hope, did you use that thing you said on that vampire last year?"

"No. I used the Summoning and Banishing charms..."

As they spoke about the lesson as though it had been an entertaining show. However, Harry hadn't found it entertaining. Neither had Hermione, nor, to Harry's surprise, Neville.

The boy was standing alone, up the passage and staring at a wall with the same horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody had demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse.

"Neville..." Hermione said gently. The boy looked around.

"Oh... hello..." he said, voice higher than usual. "Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm starving... how about you?"

"Neville, are you all right?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"Oh... yes, I'm fine," Neville said in the same unnaturally high voice "I wonder what's for lesson... I mean... very interesting dinner..."

Ron shot Harry a startled look. But, there was a clunking noise that made them all turn and look behind them. Professor Moody was limping toward them. They all fell silent, but when he spoke it was a much silenter, gentler growl than they had heard thus far.

"It's all right, sonny.. Why don't you come on up to my office? We can have a cup of tea.."

Neville looked as if that was the last thing he had wanted to do. He didn't move or speak. Moody then turned to Harry.

"All right, are you, Potter?"

"Yes," Harry said, almost defiantly,

Moody's blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it regarded Harry. "You've got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you've got to know. No point in pretending..." he then turned to Neville. "Come on, Longbottom, I've got some books that might interest you."

Neville looked pleadingly at the other Gryffindors but they didn't say anything so he had no choice but to go along with Moody.

"What was that about?" Ron said, watching Neville and Moody turn the corner.

"I don't know..." Hermione said pensively.

"But, that was some lesson though," Ron said as they set off for the Great Hall. "Fred and George were right. He really knows his stuff, Moody. When he did the Avada Kedavra, the way that spider just _died,_ just snuffed it-"

Ron then stopped talking at the look on Harry's face.

Further down the table, Hope was engaged in excited conversation with Parvati and Lavender about what they had just experienced.

"He didn't have to call me out in front of the class..." Lavender said, face slightly pink.

"I hope for your sake you never get caught passing love notes or something in his class..." Hope cracked.

"Oh, shut up. And how'd you know about what some witches do to vampires? Did you ever see anything like that in America?" Lavender asked, wide eyed.

"Ehh..." Hope had only heard stories about the insta-anurysm from Aunt Bex. And it was only in passing. She never went into full details. "Aunt Bex told me about it..."

"Do you know how to do it?" Dean asked in awe.

"What? No... I have no clue how to do any wandless magic..." She squirmed, not wanting to get into any details that might get her in trouble. "But, what about that Avada Kedavra, though..." she said in an attempt to change the subject. It worked.

"I still can't believe it killed that spider like _that_," Seamus said in awe. "And that Harry survived it when You-Know-Who tried to use it on him..."

Hope stopped chewing at that, recalling something Harry had told her one night in the common room. That when the dementors drew near he heard Voldemort killing his parents... Her eyes popped and she nearly choked on her peas and ham.

_Holy... he just saw how his parents died!_

She cast a small glance to the right and saw that he was looking quite stricken and pale, and could more than likely hear every word they were saying.

"Hey, Dean, what do we have for History of Magic homework? I sort of fell asleep," she said in an attempt to change the subject.

"You're asking the wrong one, I think we all fell asleep..." Dean replied.

Hope let out a sigh and cast another look toward Harry, only to find that he had left the Hall.

* * *

"So... should we work on our Divination homework?" Ron asked uneasily as he and Harry headed to Gryffindor Tower. Hermione had disappeared into the library again.

"Sure..."

"Er... so, how're you and Cho doing?" Ron asked as they ascended the stairs and went through the portrait.

"Erm..." Harry didn't know how to answer that. Honestly, since he had gotten back to Hogwarts he didn't have much time to speak with her. Hermione had tried to comfort him. ("Well, she's a fifth year now, Harry, so she'll be working on her OWLs. That's bound to take up a lot of time...")

"We're all right," he said lamely as they went to their dorm to gather their Divination materials. When they got there, they found the room wasn't empty, but Neville was there, reading through a book.

"Are you all right, Neville?" Harry asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes," he said quietly and smiled, though his eyes were a bit red. "Professor Moody gave me this book." He held up the book that was entitled _Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. _"Apparently, Professor Sprout told him I'm really good at Herbology," Neville said with a very small amount of pride in his voice that was seldom heard.

Harry and Ron took their Divination textbooks back to the common room and found a table where they could work on their predictions for the coming month. It was a half hour later and they hadn't made any progress. They stared at the list of predictions and calculations but had no clue what it was supposed to mean. Harry's brain felt as if it had been with the fumes from Professor Trelawney's fire.

"What on earth's this supposed to mean, anyway?" Harry demanded as he shuffled the papers in his hand.

Ron then suggested that they go by their old Divination stand-by and make things up. Harry agreed this was the best course of action and the two spent a nice amount of time making things up for the coming months; from burns (which was possible due to those Skwerts), to lost bets, to fights and betrayals.

"Wow... are you sure guys are even going to live this month?" a voice asked from over Harry's shoulder. He turned to see Hope smirking down at his parchment. She then took a seat next to him and pulled out her own parchment as well as her deck of tarot cards.

"What're you doing?" Harry asked.

"Predicting," she then began to shuffle and laid out a row of five cards.

"You're wasting your time with that, y'know. It'll be easier to just make some stuff up..." Ron told her though she ignored him as she examined her cards.

"Okay, for my month I have... The Tower, the Two of Cups in Reverse, the Moon, the Lovers, and the Queen of Swords in Reverse..." She then consulted her astrology chart and her tarot book. "Okay.. the Tower is related to Mars... Normally means an awful shock, but in this context I'll more than likely get into a confrontation..." she clearly wasn't taking it serious, just going along with it in her own way.

"You? No..." Harry said sarcastically.

"Shut up, I'm a peaceful, delicate flower."

"I'm just going to move out of the way before the lightning storm hits us due to all of your lying..." Harry retorted and dodged the parchment ball she tossed at him.

People in the common room slowly left for their beds and Crookshanks had hopped into one of the empty seats and regarded them with the same look Hermione might if she knew that she weren't doing their homework properly.

"So, what's the Two of Cups in reverse?" Ron asked curiously.

Hope tossed a scathing look over her shoulder at Fred who was busy working with George in a corner. Harry also glanced at the twins as it was weird to see them actually working. They usually enjoyed being the centers of attention and in the thick of things. However, tonight they were busily pouring over a piece of parchment. They seemed to notice the fourth years noticing them and George had looked up. Hope turned back to her own work with a sniff of haughty indifference while Harry just gave them a smile, mainly to reassure the twins from thinking whatever unsavory notions they were thinking. Soon after, the twins rolled up the parchment they were pouring over, said good night (Hope and Fred pointedly ignored each other) and headed for to bed.

Harry glanced over at the girl, noting her scribbling on the parchment with extreme prejudice. Ron and Harry exchanged an awkward look before continuing with their own predictions. Luckily, they were distracted when Hermione had entered after her long bout in the library, a piece of parchment in one hand and a box in the other. She took a peek at the boys insanely dismal predictions for the coming months and had sardonically asked 'rough month?'

"Well, at least I've been alerted..." Ron yawned.

"You seem to be drowning twice..." Hermione deadpanned.

"Oh... let me change that to being trampled by... erm... I don't know, a hippogriff or something..."

Hermione started to pull Hope's predictions toward her but the girl smacked her hand away. "Are you in the class with me?" Hope asked, annoyed. "No? Then don't check my work. My mom's back in America, I don't need you as a fill-in..."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort but seemed to think better of it and returned her attention to the boys. "Don't you think it'll be obvious that you made these up?"

"Hey! We've been working like house-elves here!" Ron said in mock indignation. However Hermione hardly found it funny judging by the way she rose her brows.

"Well, it's just an expression..." Ron said quickly.

"What's in the box?" Harry asked after finishing predicting his own gruesome death by evisceration.

"Well, funny you should ask," Hermione said with a scathing look at Ron. She then showed then the contents of the box. Inside were about fifty badges in different colors that all bore the letters S.P.E.W.

"Er... What's this about?" Harry asked.

"S.P.E.W. Stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare," Hermione explained.

"Never heard of it..."

"Well, of course you haven't. I've only just started it."

"Really?" Ron asked in mild surprise. "How many members have you got?"

"Well, if you three join, then three," said Hermione.

"If you you think I'm wearing a button that says 'vomit' then your curly perm has rotted your brain," Hope said without looking up from her parchment.

"They do not say vomit!" Hermione said hotly.

"Wretch? Puke? Ooh! Dry heave!" Hope said with false enthusiasm while Ron scoffed in agreement.

"S-P-E-W! I was going to put Stop Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their .Legal Status- but it wouldn't fit. So, that's the heading of our manifesto."

"You mean _your_ manifesto," Hope muttered under her breath as she put away her one-eighth completed predictions. She then went about completing her Astronomy homework.

"I've been researching it in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now," Hermione said, clearly not hearing Hope's blatant refusal to be apart of S.P.E.W.

"Hermione, they like it! They like being enslaved!" Ron said loudly.

"Like BDSM freaks?" Hope asked.

"Ugh..." Harry groaned while Ron and Hermione blinked.

"What's that even mean?" Hermione asked.

Hope only snickered and went back to her work while Hermione shrugged and continued to explain the mission of S.P.E.W. "Our short-term aims," she continued with a dirty look at Ron "are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures..."

"And how do we do all this?" Harry asked.

"We start by recruiting members," Hermione said happily. "Two Sickles to join as that buys a badge. The proceeds can fund our leaflet program. You're treasurer, Ron. I've got a collecting tin upstairs. Harry, you're secretary, so you might want to right down everything I'm saying as a record of our first meeting. And Hope, you're-"

"So not even apart of this," Hope finished for her. She then put away her homework and began to paint her nails a vibrant shade of red, ignoring the look of shocked hurt on Hermione's face.

Harry sat torn between exasperation at Hermione, amusement at the look on Ron's face and trepidation at the impending argument that was sure to erupt from Hope's blatant refusal. However the silence was broken by a soft tap on the window. Harry looked across the now empty common room and saw, illuminated by the light of the nearly full moon, a snowy owl perched on the windowsill.

"Hedwig!" he shouted and launched across the room to pull the window open.

Hedwig flew inside, soared across the room, and landed on top of Hope's backpack. She had a grubby piece of parchment attached to her leg which Harry hastily untied and sat down to read. Hedwig then fluttered to his knee, hooting softly.

_Harry,_

_I'm flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumors that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore. They're saying he's got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is._

_I'll be in touch soon. My best to Ron, Hermione and Hope. Keep your eyes open, Harry._

_Sirius._

Harry looked up at the group who stared back at him. Even Hope had stopped painting her nails.

"He's coming back here?" Hope asked, wide-eyed.

"What signs?" Ron asked perplexed.

"What's this about your scar- Harry!" Hope exclaimed, for Harry had just hit himself in the forehead with his fist causing Hedwig to jolt out of his lap.

"I shouldn't have told him!" Harry cried furiously.

"What are you on about?" Ron asked in surprise.

"It's made him think he's got to come back!" Harry slammed his fist on the table, upending Hope's nail polish and causing Hedwig to fly to the back of the girl's chair, hooting indignantly. "Coming back because he thinks I'm in trouble! And there's nothing wrong with me! And if you want food, go to the Owlery. I haven't got anything for you," he snapped at his owl who was clicking her beak expectantly

Hedwig gave him an offended loo and took off toward the open window, cuffing him around the head with her wing as she went.

"Harry..." Hermione said in a pacifying sort of way.

"I'm going to bed," he said shortly and stormed up to his dorm.

The three sat in awkward silence before Ron cleared his throat. "I'm... er... headed to bed, too... Good night." He then left the girls as he went up to the boys dorms.

Hope and Hermione looked at each other and then headed to bed. Hermione attempted to speak to Hope about S.P.E.W. However, Hope just climbed into bed and shut her curtains, not in the mood to even entertain that nonsense. Hermione let out an offended huff and also went to bed.

Hope lie there, unable to get to sleep. There was a strange feeling of restlessness about her. She tossed, turned and tried to sleep in different positions but nothing helped. It was like she had downed a couple of energy drinks and suffering from caffeine overload. Though, she wasn't surprised. This normally happened during when the moon was getting close to full. She didn't notice it in July because she was up with her friends, and in August she'd tempered it by binge watching _Digimon _and raiding the fridge. However, now that she was back in school with now internet to distract her, she really felt the pull.

"For the love of..." she grumbled as she sat up. Four sets of feminine snores told her that her roommates were all dead to the world. Getting out of bed, she made her way down to the common room with a stack of random books. She took a seat on the couch closest to the fire and opened her book to a random page but it didn't hold her attention. For a moment she was tempted to go and wake Parvati, but a set of footsteps descending the boys dorm stairs caught her attention.

"Hey..." she said and as Harry took a seat next to her. "Couldn't sleep, huh?"

"Nope," he said as he glared at the fire. "Why're you up?"

"Full moon makes me antsy and restless at night..."

"I thought it went full tomorrow..." Harry said with a furrowed brow.

"It does... but... stuff still happens when it waxes to full..." Hope gave a small shrug then turned to him, sitting sideways on the couch and resting her chin on her knees. "So... wanna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"The thing that's got you all weird..."

Harry sighed and leaned back against the couch. "Well... you know I wrote Sirius... and he's coming here..."

"Something about your scar hurting?" she asked. "What was that all about?"

Harry sighed and explained about the weird dream he had about Voldemort, that he and Peter Pettigrew were planning on killing someone. He left out the part that it was _Harry_ they were planning on killing.

"And then I told Sirius, and now he's coming back... What if he gets caught? What if they send dementors or vampires or whatever?"

Hope made herself more comfortable, leaning her back against the arm of the couch and hummed in thought. "Well... I don't think the vampire from before is going to come back... Dumbledore called her, remember? He knows Sirius is innocent..."

That brought Harry a small amount of relief. But, there was still the threat of dementors coming after his godfather. "Yeah... but..." he let out a frustrated growl "Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut? Why'd I have to start whining like a baby? If he gets caught, it'll be my fault..."

"Be right back," Hope said easily and made her way toward the dorms. Harry watched her leave, perplexed though she returned in a short moment with her cards and runes. She then sat down on the floor and began to shuffle. "Mmkay, will he be caught?" she asked the cards.

Harry leaned forward, stomach knotting as she laid out two cards.

"Okay... he has... the Eight of Wands and the Hierophant in reverse... Looks like he's going to come here... and with the Hierophant in reverse... he'll evade the Ministry... as well as have help... I'm guessing Dumbledore."

Harry's brows shot up. "What?"

"Yeah..."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty much..."

"But, he's still coming here?"

"Pretty much..."

Harry swore and angrily flopped back against the couch. "I'm going to write him and tell him not to bother... that I was just imagining things and I feel much better now..."

Hope tilted her head to the side, clearly in disbelief but she said nothing on the matter. Instead she retook her spot on the couch and focused on his dream, "But... isn't he like half dead because of-" she then stopped, covered her mouth, eyes wide.

"What?" Harry asked.

"That curse Moody showed us... Your parents..." she then covered her mouth again, apparently horrified with herself for bringing it up, especially due to the way Harry paled. "Oh, god... just let me stop talking..."

"No, it's all righ-" Harry froze and sighed when he felt her arms wrap around him. He'd forgotten how touchy-feely she was when sorry that she stuck her foot in her mouth. "Hope..."

"Sorry I brought it up at dinner..." she said and he brought his hand up to pat her arm.

"It's fine... you can let go now..."

"Oh, right... don't need Cho to shank me..." she then let him go and moved back to her original spot.

Now Harry gave a small smile, relieved that she let him go. Though... it did feel quite nice...

"So... tell me about that spell you were talking about in DADA... the one that holds back vampires?" Harry asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Oh... I only heard about it from my aunt... witches actually give a vampire, or anyone with supernatural healing and aneurysm. But, since they heal fast the witch does it over and over again..."

"Would that... work on you?" he asked, morbidly curious.

Hope shrugged. "Probably only for a while before it killed me... if you haven't noticed, I'm sort of alive..."

"Oh, right... I still can't believe there's wandless spells..." Harry said. "I mean... I know about accidental magic but... Doing wandless magic on purpose, and without potions and stuff..."

Hope was also quiet as she thought about it. She recalled Aunt Bex idly mentioning that she hadn't come across witches that used a wand when Hope excitedly polished hers before her first Hogwarts voyage. Her mom even looked a bit curious as she examined Hope's wand over the summer. It made her curious... What sort of magic were they used to if they weren't used to wands?

"Hope, you all right?" Harry asked, jarring her from her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm good..." she said easily "Just thinking..."

They fell into an easy silence though judging by Harry's furrowed brow, he was still worrying about Sirius. Hope tried to think of something to say to make him feel better but came up empty.

"So... the moon makes you restless, too?" Harry asked and Hope nodded, eager to end the strained silence.

"Oh my God, it's so annoying... especially without the internet... I can't even binge watch cartoons to take my mind off it... And according to mom, it's not just the anger I gotta worry about during this time, but-" she then stopped and flushed and Harry's brows rose.

"What else?"

"That's so not important..." Hope muttered, turning scarlet.

"Okay, now I really want to know."

"Yeah, well, people in Hell want ice water," she said as she gathered her cards. No way in hell was she telling Harry that her mom told her that moon fever might bring on bouts of sexual frustration... She preferred to have the upper hand in their tease wars.

However, Harry gave her a scrutinizing look and propped his chin in his fist. "Hmm... anger... restless... Hunger? No, not hunger... you wouldn't be freaking out if I knew... so..." his mouth then fell open and his eyes widened "Oh..."

Hope swallowed as she felt her whole face heat up. Dear god, she hoped he didn't figure it out... But the way he was now snickering and pointing at her told her that he did. "Shut up!" she cried, burying her face into her knees.

"That's a thing?" he asked in between the snickers he was muffling with a pillow.

"Harry..." she said warningly.

"Okay, okay... I promise I'll be good..." his green eyes were sparkling with mirth that told her he was going to get sweet revenge for all of the teasing she'd subjected him to over the past year.

"I'm going to bed..." she said and shuffled off toward the girls' dorms. He was clearly feeling a bit now, so her work was done.

"I need to get to bed, too..." Harry said and headed toward the boys dorms but stopped "Hope, promise me one thing..." he said in such seriousness that she looked over her shoulder.

"You already know I won't saying anything..."

"That's not it," he said "Just promise me..." his lips quirked "that you won't won't hump my leg..."

Hope's mouth fell open in indignation. "You- Oh, you're a dead man!"

Harry ran up to his dorm, silently cackling as he dodged the pillows she threw at him. And when he went to bed, he felt a bit better than he had the first time he'd come up here.

* * *

That next morning, Harry woke with a plan formed in mind. He would do as he told Hope last night. The sun was just beginning to rise when he got dressed and left the dorm without waking Ron. He went down to the deserted common room and went to the table where his Divination homework still lay on the table and grabbed a piece of parchment.

_Dear Sirius,_

_I reckon I jut imagined my scar hurting, I was half asleep when I wrote you last time. There's no point in coming back, everything's fine here. Don't worry about me, my head feels completely normal._

_Harry_

He then climbed out of the portrait hole and through the silent castle. The only trouble he met along the way was Peeves who tried to knock a suit of armor on him along the second floor corridor. He then arrived in the Owlery, a cold, draft, circular room that was covered in straw, droppings, and regurgitated skeletons of mice and voles. There were hundreds of owls nestled on perches that rose to the top of the tower, most of them asleep though a few of them glared at him. One owl was Hope's owl, Nik, who was perched next to Hedwig.

It took Harry a while to persuade her to wake up and then to look at him. She kept shuffling on her perch, showing him her tail. She was clearly still mad at him for his lack of gratitude last night.

"Fine... I guess you're too tired to take this letter..." he said with an exaggerated sigh. "Maybe I'll ask Hope if I can borrow Nik..."

Nik let out a derisive hoot and showed him his tail. Harry scoffed.

"You're just like your mistress, you know that?" he said to the horned owl before turning back to Hedwig who was now giving him an unimpressed look. "Or, maybe Ron'll let me borrow Pigwidgeon..."

At that Hedwig stuck out her leg and allowed him to tie the letter onto it.

"Take this to Sirius... Find him, all right... Before the dementors do..." he said as he carried her on his arm to one of the holes in the wall, stroking her back. She nipped his finger, harder than usual, in response but gave him a soft reassuring hoot. Then she spread her wings and took off into the sunrise, and Harry felt a familiar unease in his stomach.

He headed back into the castle and into the Great Hall. There were only a few people, mostly older students, inside either pouring over books or homework or speaking in quiet tones. He took a seat at the Gryffindor table just as Hope had come down for breakfast. She took a seat across from him and gave him an unamused glare that let him know she was still thinking about his 'leg humping' crack.

"Morning, douche," she grumbled.

Harry's lips quirked at her agitation, finding it to be a good distraction from the unease he felt. "Don't worry... I'll be good for today since it's a full moon..."

Hope arched her brows as she helped herself to some cornflakes and bacon. "You're going to torture me once the moon wanes, aren't you?"

"Oh, yes," he admitted without an ounce of shame.

"Ugh..."

"But... can I ask a question?"

Hope let out a long suffering sigh. "What?"

"Is that why you're such pig?"

"No, that's just part of my charm," she said easily with a small smile.

"Does anyone else know about... that?" he asked, gesturing vaguely and flushing a bit. Teasing her was one thing but actually talking about it was different.

"Parvati does... I told her on Tuesday... She made a hilarious joke about having to cast Freezing Charms on my undies along with Cheering Charms to keep me from killing people."

Harry snorted, coughing on his pumpkin juice at that. "Wow..."

"So, did you send the letter?" she asked, recalling his plan from last night.

"Yep, just now... Though Hedwig was still mad at me from last night... I had to suggest sending Pigwidgeon before she'd actually do it. I suggested Nik, but that didn't go over well. He just hooted at me like I was an idiot and she wasn't buying it."

"Well, duh, Nik's totally crushing on Hedwig, he's not going to let you send him when she's mad at you. That'd totally screw up his game."

"Wait, what?"

"Yep. Though, she's clearly not interested... She kept ignoring him when she came to my house for your birthday."

"Well... they were sleeping next to each other... maybe she warmed up to him?" Harry suggested.

"Think we're going to be in-laws and have grand-owls by the time we graduate?" Hope asked.

"Probably..."

"In-laws?" Lavender asked, as she had just entered the hall along with Parvati.

"Our owls are so going to end up dating," Hope explained.

"Ooh, those would be some adorable baby owls," Parvati sighed.

"Feathery foreshadowing?" Lavender asked innocently and Hope let out an annoyed breath through her nose.

"Lavender, I swear to god!"

"What's she talking about?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Nothing, ignore her. She's crazy."

Lavender only ate her breakfast with an amused smirk, However, they were saved from discussing it further when Ron and Hermione came down for breakfast. Harry shrugged off the girls' craziness and instead told his two friends what he had done when the girls were absorbed in a conversation about 'man-boys' and finding one for Hope.

"Harry, that was a lie," Hermione said in a sharp whisper. "You _didn't_ imagine it and you know it."

"So what?" Harry said mutinously "He's not going back to Azkaban because of me."

Hermione huffed, opening her mouth to argue some more, thought Ron cut her off.

"Hermione, drop it," he said sharply, and for once she fell silent.

"Ohh... crap..." Lavender's voice said suddenly, causing everyone to turn their attention toward her. She was looking toward the Hall entrance with a shocked look on her face. They all looked in that direction and Harry felt a sinking feeling.

There was George, Fred and Lee Jordan. George and Lee had made their way toward the Gryffindor table and were helping themselves to breakfast, however, Fred had migrated toward the Hufflepuff table and was clearly flirting with Patricia Stimpson. And the Hufflepuff girl was fluttering her lashes at him, gently touching his hand.

Harry risked a look at Hope, He didn't put much stock in zodiac signs, however, Hope's sign of Taurus couldn't have been more appropriate for she truly was bull-like in her rage. Her head was lowered, her nostrils flared and her breath was rushed, veins corded in her neck and her fists clenched on the table.

"Hope, we should really get to class..." Hermione said suddenly. "We have double Runes today..."

Hope didn't seem to hear her but Parvati took action and looped an arm through hers, and led the enraged American to the exit, Lavender following after them, more than likely for a confab in the girls' bathroom. Hermione looked between the girls and Harry for a moment before following after them, leaving the boys alone.

"Y'know, if she's going to get that fussed, then he's better off..." Ron said as he observed the scene.

"Leave it alone, Ron," Harry said and went back to his breakfast.

* * *

"I knew it, I FUCKING KNEW IT!" Hope roared as she kicked a rubbish bin with startling force, startling a first year girl into running out of the bathroom.

"Ohh, Hope..." Lavender said gently but backed away when her friend let out an enraged growl.

"Patricia Stimpson? Big-titted, no-brained Patricia Stimpson! I should've fucking knew it! I'll bet he was probably screwing her the whole time he was with me!"

"Now, I highly doubt that..." Hermione said timidly.

"Why? Why do you doubt that? Because in his letter, his fucking OWL LETTER, he said he wasn't feeling it! That's probably because he was busy feeling that dumb bitch!"

"Okay..." Lavender winced, clearly at a loss for what to do, though Parvati took over.

"Hope, come on... Remember what your mum said, he's so not worth it. Here..." she headed to the sinks and wet a piece of paper towel and held it to Hope's face as she was now crying tears of rage. "Here, cool off... and maybe you should skiv off Runes..."

"No, missing class is just pointless," Hermione interjected. "Hope, just go to class and focus on the lesson... Keeping your mind on something useful will take it off of this whole mess... Just don't eat in the Hall... We'll gladly sit with you in the common room or the courtyard during mealtimes..."

"Right... and don't worry about that fool, you're too pretty for him anyway," Lavender said as Hope rinsed her face in the sink. She then grabbed her backpack and stormed off toward Runes, her friends following after her.

"Hermione, make sure she doesn't lose it..." Parvati said urgently as she and Lavender left the other girls for their own classes.

During Runes, Hope tried to focus on the lesson but was unable. Blood was pounding in her ears, her vision was clouded and she wanted nothing more than to rip Fred Weasley's douchey red hair from his head, preferably with pieces of scalp still attached. She wanted to hex Patricia Stimpson's fucking double-D tits from her chest. She wanted-

"Hope, please calm down..." Hermione whispered urgently.

"I am calm..." she said stonily.

"What's wrong?" Padma asked.

"Well-" Hermione began quietly.

"Fred was flirting with Patricia Stimpson and I sort of want to maim them both, but no biggie..."

Padma's mouth fell open and scoffed, muttering something that sounded like "Fucking Hufflepuffs..."

Hope took no notes, nor answered any questions throughout the entire class. Once it was over and the bell rang, she left, walking at a quick pace, bumping into people and not giving a damn who she nearly bowled over. Hermione had to trot to keep up with her.

"Hope... I noticed you didn't take any notes... You can copy mine later..."

"Great..."

"And... we have History of Magic next... you can catch a nap like you usually do..."

It was the simple fact that Hermione of all people had suggested she sleep through a class that had Hope stopping in her tracks and turning to look at the girl. "You know, don't you?" she asked.

Hermione glanced around uneasily, pulled her to a corner and nodded. "Yes... when we had that argument I looked... well... I looked them up in the library... the books said they were wiped out by vampires decades ago... but then... I saw... what you did after that fight with Pansy, when she hit you with that knight's helmet... and the way you seemed to always know when Professor Lupin was nearby... and the comment Sirius made about you being rabid when green... Plus, you were always _really_ awful when he was sick... And, I won't tell anyone, I didn't tell anyone all year about Lupin, not even Harry and Ron... Just, please... don't do anything to activate it..."

Hope, whose mind was now reeling at the fact that Hermione knew (She had figured, but to have it proven... wow) now narrowed her eyes. "I'm not going to kill anyone..."

"Hope, you looked ready to kill just now at breakfast... You looked nearly happy when you'd thought Millicent was dead last year... And at the Shack when you and Professor Lupin fought..."

"Jeez, I know, God! I was there! You don't have to bring it all up!" Hope snarled. "Don't you have some elves to liberate or something?" and with that she whirled on her foot and headed toward the History of Magic class.

She took her normal seat between Lavender and Parvati and found herself feeling highly irritated that she now had several pairs of eyes on her: Harry's, Parvati's, Lavender's and Hermione's. "Can you guys stop looking at me please?" she sniped. She then tried to pass out like she normally did as Professor Binns droned on about the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century, but found she was unable. And when the bell rang she was more than happy to exit the class though when she was about to head to the Hall for lunch Parvati steered her toward the courtyard.

"Nope, you need fresh air... and it's a pretty day out so we're eating outside. Lavender's gone to fetch food, and she's bringing Padma as well."

Lunch went well enough, though Hope was still seething. The girls had tried to cheer her up by viciously abusing Fred and Patricia Stimpson and some of their cracks even had her smiling. Breathing in the fresh air and feeling the grounding presence of foliage around her did wonders. Her fingers threaded through the grass and she took a deep cleansing breath.

"Feeling better?" Parvati asked.

"Little bit."

"Good, now we can execute a plan to find you someone nice and hot... I'm thinking Macmillan..."

"Parv, really?" Hope said unimpressed.

"What? Best way to get over the old one is to get a new one... according to _Witch Weekly..._"

"I want to sing a song about lightning striking, but I don't know any..." Lavender said quietly with a smirk and Hope rolled her eyes, though she did feel loads better.

Their next class was Charms, and they found that they had to work on Summoning Charms. Professor Flitwick assigned three extra books for preparation for the lesson. However, Hope was quite certain she didn't really need to, though she would just to keep her mind off of everything. She actually took notes and found herself slightly calm. Hermione kept eying her beadily and Harry gave her questioning glances but she answered with a small smile and thumbs up, and by the end of the lesson she thought everything could go rather well at least until the end of the day. It was a Friday. She could spend the weekend to cool down, especially since the moon would still be partially full those days. But, everything could go well...

Then everything went up shit-creak. Their next lesson was double Potions with the Slytherins.

Once entering the dungeon, Hope felt a sense of foreboding. Pansy Parkinson was sitting with Draco, hand in hand as usual. Her eyes lit with pleasure at the sight of Hope and she let out a snide giggle. Hope's nostrils flared and Parvati put a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

Professor Snape began a lecture on antidotes to poisons that lasted for the better part of an hour. Hope forced herself to take notes, though she had to clutch her quill and bite her tongue whenever Pansy gave her a smirk and a giggle. Then for the rest of the lesson they had to research antidotes in their texts.

"Mitchell," Parkinson said gleefully and Hope closed her eyes and let out a long suffering sigh.

"Piss off..."

"So... I saw something interesting in lunch today..." she said easily.

"Yeah, a Birkin bag big enough for Malfoy to carry you around in?"

"I'm wondering if Stimpson's going to have to deal with dust in her knickers, now..." Malfoy said over his shoulder, referring to his horrid crack on the train.

"Be quiet, you bleeding ferret," Harry growled at him, though glancing up to make certain Snape was occupied. Malfoy bristled at that.

Hope fumed at the blond boy before her face settled into a cold smirk. "Malfoy, shouldn't you be worried about _gravel_ in your drawers?"

"What are you on about?" Malfoy asked her in a bored voice.

"Gravel... y'know, small pieces of rock... like limestone... shale..."

Malfoy grew bored with her taunting and went back to his work, though Hope's eyes stayed on Pansy's as she mouthed "...flint..."

The result was euphoric! Pansy's mouth snapped shut and her eyes popped as her face turned pallid. The Slytherin swallowed and her eyes made a quick dart to the blond boy at her side who was still immersed in his work. Her eyes then narrowed and she leaned forward.

"You don't know what you're talking about..."

"Oh, I don't?" Hope whispered with eyes wide in false surprise. "So... then... what was that at the Cup against the tree while those a-holes were floating those Muggles?"

Pansy, if possible, went even more ashen and she turned back into her seat while Hope tugged down her sleeves and straightened her tie in smug satisfaction. She then gave Lavender a small nudge.

"I just poured myself a glass wine..."

Lavender had to cover her mouth before the snickers of giddy surprise spilled forth. Parvati looked confused and Hope stretched leisurely in her seat and began flicking the pages of her book, happily taking notes with one hand while reaching for a bottle of water from her bag with the other.

However, after nearly forty-five minutes Pansy whirled back around in her seat and glared at Hope "Like you can prove a thing," she whispered as low as she could. "So, go ahead, and try and rat me out... He'll never believe you," she whispered with a small head-jerk toward Malfoy "He'll just think you're trying to make yourself feel better because..." and now she grinned "... because your former pet Weasel and Stimpson were caught snogging in the hall...Moved on fast, didn't he? Not that I blame him... And I heard that he dumped you via owl... not even worth a face to face, are you? Or was his face somewhere else when he wrote you that letter? Sucking Stimpson's... Or, maybe it wasn't her face he was sucking..."

Hope's fist curled on her book and she was just about to rear it back when the bell rang. Parvati, who had noticed her friend's change in demeanor, tugged her toward the exit as Snape called out for them study their antidotes well as he may or may not be poisoning one of them before Christmas to see if it worked.

For the second time that day, Hope found herself storming into a bathroom, fuming and cursing under her breath. Though, it was at that moment when her friends entered to check on her that one of the cubicles opened and Marietta Edgecombe stepped out to wash her hands.

"Hope, hi..." the older girl greeted.

"Marietta... hi..." Hope deadpanned and turned to leave the restroom to head toward the Great Hall, despite her friends' protests. She refused to let that jackass run her from a place. She'd just made it to the entrance hall where there was a throng of people waiting to get to dinner when the older Ravenclaw girl made it to her side.

"Hope, are you all right? You seemed upset in the bathroom..."

"She's fine," Hermione said firmly, not wanting the school foghorn to get wind of this.

But, Hope apparently had other ideas.

"You want to know what happened?!" Hope shrieked to the taken aback Ravenclaw. "I'll TELL you what happened! Fred Weasley broke up with me by OWL! Yes, that's right, OWL!" she had turned and shrieked at the group of seventh year Hufflepuffs behind her. "And you want to know the kicker!? He didn't have the decency to use his big brother's _good_ owl! Or his little brother's _little cute owl! _He had to use THE OWL THAT WAS SO FUCKING OLD IT WAS DELIVERING LETTERS BEFORE THE AMERICAN PONY EXPRESS WAS EVEN A THING! IT WAS DELIVERING WARNING LETTERS WHEN THE WITCH TRIALS FIRST STARTED!"

In the throng of people, Harry had been waiting with Ron to enter the Hall when Hope's enraged shrieks filled the air and for the second time that week the entrance hall was the source of great drama. Groaning, he buried his face in his hand. He'd figured it would be a matter of time before she went off on someone, but he had mainly been worried about her physically harming people. He'd forgotten about that moon rabid mouth of hers. Around him, people were all reacting to her outburst. There was the baleful shriek of amused Slytherins. The shocked squeaks of a few Ravenclaws. The gasps of taken aback Hufflepuffs and the astonished silence of Gryffindor. And Hope still wasn't done.

"I mean, you'd _think_ he could've sent me an owl telling me to meet him! But, _no_! That would involve not being a lazy cowardly _CUNT! HOW THE FUCK IS HE EVEN IN GRYFFINDOR?!_"

Harry took a cautious glance around. Hermione's books had fallen out of her hands, which were over her mouth in shock. Lavender's mouth had dropped and Parvati was tugging on Hope's sleeve, trying to get her to head to the Tower but that didn't seem like it was working.

"AND YOU'D THINK HE COULD'VE TOOK THE FLOO TO DIAGON ALLEY AND I WOULD'VE MET HIM THERE AND HE COULD'VE DONE IT LIKE A _PROPER MAN! STIMPSON, I HOPE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST SADDLED YOURSELF WITH!"_

"Mitchell, that's two Sickles for a scoop of powder, he'd use all of his life savings..." drawled the highly amused voice of Malfoy.

"THAT RED-HEADED BITCH COULD'VE COUCH DIVED!" She was apparently so pissed she had no care in the world that she was actually engaging Malfoy.

"You really think he has a couch?" Malfoy asked, now shaking with mirth.

"Fuck if I know!"

Parvati was fumbling for her wand just as Hermione and Harry both whipped out theirs, and much like last summer when they all hit Snape with the Expelliarmus Charm, they all hit Hope with a Cheering Charm at the same time. The girl froze momentarily and fill to the ground. However, when Lavender helped her to her feet, she broke into hysterical laughter. Apparently they had overdid it...

"Wow..." someone whispered and the hall broke into excited chatter just as the teachers stormed in to see what was the ruckus. Professor McGonagall looked positively furious.

"What is the meaning of this!?" she demanded.

"Mitchell had a hissy fit because Fred Weasley dumped her via owl and started snogging someone else!" Daphne Greengrass cried happily and a wave of laughter erupted from the Slytherins.

"That'll do, Greengrass! Go into the Hall. Now!" she then swept a hard glare over the students who all filed into the Hall.

Harry managed to catch the beet red, enraged and infuriated face of Fred before he also disappeared into the hall. Parvati pointedly gave him a haughty glare as if to say this was all his fault.

"And what's wrong with her?" McGonagall snapped, gesturing at the manically laughing Hope.

"Cheering Charm..." Parvati explained.

"Our fault..." Harry gestured at himself and the two girls.

"Ugh.. she'll be useless for the better part of an hour... Take her to the common room and tell her once she's calmed down that first thing tomorrow morning, she's serving a detention..."

The woman then stormed into the Great Hall for dinner.

"I'll... get her some food..." Lavender said uneasily and made her way into the Hall after McGonagall.

Harry sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist while Parvati took one of her arms. It took some time but they finally got the basket case into the common room where Harry shoved her to sit on the couch. Though, she didn't stay seated. She spent the better part of fifteen minutes, rolling on the floor with laughter. Harry wasn't sure if it was the effect of three separate Cheering Charms or the fact that the moon made her bonkers.

"And... how's this going?" Lavender asked as she came into the common room with five plates full of food. She handed Harry one and passed two more to the sane girls and sat one aside, keeping the last for herself.

"You tell me..." Harry said, gesturing to the giggling idiot on the floor. "How's it in the Hall?"

"Oh... it's bad..." Lavender said as she bit into a roll. "The Slytherins are all piddling themselves with happiness... Marietta Edgecombe is telling everyone she can... Fred was just really quiet and surly... and looked really pissed. I hope he doesn't do anything stupid..."

"Stupid like breaking up with this one by owl?" Parvati said sarcastically.

"Good point..."

**Okay, and it's 12/17/15 and it's 3:49 in the morning. I'm stopping here. And yes, Hope lost it a bit... we all saw it coming. However, she and Harry are becoming a bit closer. Info about the magic from TVD and TO is actually being mentioned. Also, no, Hope will not be in the tournament, let's just get that out of the way now. One, she's not going to steal Harry's thunder that way, and two... well, two's a surprise. Now, I'm going to spend the next few days working on school work and whatnot, so I'll (hopefully) have the next update before Christmas. If not, then Happy Holidays! :D**


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